The Cold Body of the Law
by Fae 206
Summary: (FutureSet) When Kyoko Hizuri is approached by a violent stalker who claims to be in love with her, she doesn't know of the violence that he is capable with. When her husband (and father of their twins) is killed, Kyoko feels her life spiralling out of control. What she doesn't know is the fairies have given Kuon a chance to be with her again...as lawyer Takeshi Chiba. (Past Fluff)
1. Chapter 1 - The Incident

**AN: Sorry for the lack of updates. It's hard getting my classes, homework, and school all done right now because of our lovely friend Mr. Sun** **Sorry I'm not a fan of the heat, I get rashes, sometimes hives, and have recently fainted due to the glamorous Californian weather. Anyway, I just wanted to come out with a new fic since I needed something a little sad. I plan for these chapters to have the memories slipped in and not just at the end like this. Either way, I really hope that you enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Cold Body of Law**

 **Chapter One – The Incident**

Kyoko felt a sense of wonder in her life. She had an adorable set of twins who had just celebrated their first birthday and she had a husband who was supportive of her career, an amazing dad, and someone she could rely on to keep her safe and happy and loved. Life was good.

Hopefully that would continue to be true.

Or, it was going to be good when they sorted out this stalker business.

For the past two months, Kyoko had been getting scary letters from someone who claimed that they loved her so much that they would have no problem with committing murder so that the two of them could run off into the sunset. She didn't want that type of person trying to win her affections and although she knew that Kuon was more capable than anyone else she knew of defending himself, she was still scared for her family.

Even worse, Kuon was now scared for her and without him knowing it had started to limit her freedom. She didn't want to blame him, he was scared but it was as if he didn't trust her to take care of herself. He always wanted to take her by car to her different jobs despite her having a great manager to do so (she had had a test run with Yashiro but they all decided he was more suited to Kuon).

She was glad that Kuon was finishing later than her this particular night, she could take a walk by herself and try to get over the fear of someone watching her.

She was stopped by the crosswalk and surprisingly not a lot of people were there. There was an older gentleman and then a guy who looked like 'hired help' or a bouncer. She would just have to avoid eye contact with him. She had to be scared of a weak and pathetic guy who liked danger similar to that damn beagle.

As Kyoko got to the other side of the road, she felt the guy grab hold of her wrist and she looked up at him. Somehow this guy seemed twice as big as when she had just stood beside him and he looked even stronger and more skillful than Kuon. "Did you get my letters?" he asked as Kyoko paled.

Crap! Why hadn't she listened to anyone?

She felt him push her against the wall and her head started buzzing as she tried to summon any grudges that still remained. She needed to get rid of this guy quickly. Before she realized what was happening, the man had gagged her and she smelled something strong and chemically. She dropped down, her eyes nearly closing and she felt the guy pull her somewhere.

Damn it! She couldn't move. What was he going to do to her?

Suddenly she heard footsteps, thank god she married a man who cared about her so much.

….

….

Kuon couldn't describe how worried he was for his wife, the mother of his children, a woman who had forgiven him for his hidden past and stood beside him when he acted like a child due to fear. He hated thinking that someone dangerous or unhinged was stalking her. He wanted to get to the bottom of it but he still wasn't sure who was involved.

He had fortunately flown through the scene with no NGs and thought he would check out a small music store before going to meet Kyoko. He had to back off a little bit, try to find out some other means of seeking out this stalker. He had even gone to find _that guy_ in case he thought it was some prank…it wasn't.

Kuon didn't know what to do but he would have to try to figure something out.

Kyoko was what kept him together, what kept him sane. He knew that he wouldn't be able to be a good father without her beside him whether physically or just in spirit. Ren Tsuruga probably could handle this and sometimes Kuon wanted to go back to those days. It had been Kyoko who persuaded him to try the life of Kuon HIzuri, because he could be with her, Kuon was glad that he didn't look back too often.

He entered the store without noticing Kyoko crossing the street nearby.

After a short time, Kuon entered the music store with a bag with CDs in it that he thought were a blend of his and Kyoko's tastes. They liked having something on in the background even if they were both looking over scripts. This was when he heard muffled sounds of distress and he stepped forwards quickly, feeling the urge to help.

What he saw was a scantily clad weakened Kyoko and three guys around her. His eyes widened as he saw her there and then all he could see was red. "Get your f***ng hands off my wife!" he snapped, his eyes only showing the hate and anger that had been part of the _old_ Kuon.

He grabbed the guy who was defiling his wife and slammed him into the wall, standing defensively over Kyoko as she tried to gather herself together. Kuon entering a fighting stance. This was going to be dangerous but she didn't care, they had stolen something for her that was reserved for Kuon.

….

….

Kyoko tried to pull her clothes over her, tried to back herself against the wall for her own protection, she tried to concentrate on the blond hair that she liked to run her fingers through. Thankfully she had married a brave and protective man who would give his all for his loved ones. Thankfully she loved a man who had a past and knew how to fight. Thankfully the father to her children was someone who had such strong emotions of love and kindness but also of the want for revenge that challenged her own.

Kuon would protect her.

Unfortunately, they were both celebrities. If Kuon really killed them, things would never be the same.

Kyoko watched as Kuon placed himself in a defensive pose, watching the men around him. He had chosen defense over offense for her despite it always being better for him to strike out. He wasn't saying anything so his concentration was key. She had learned all of this from watching him and loving him.

"You think that you're some big shot because you married her? Well I've tasted her now too," the man said as Kuon's eyes narrowed. "Aren't you going to thank me?" he asked as Kuon still didn't say anything. "I could kill you, you f***ing 'Mercan" he warned and Kuon continued to stay still.

Kyoko wanted to tell him to be careful not to hurt them too badly despite all the pain that she was having to endure.

What she didn't notice was the knife that one of the other men who had arrived during the scene was holding or the lead pipe.

The guy who had hurt her was the first to attack and fortunately, Kuon's fighting skills were just as top-notch as always. That was when she heard a gun fire and her eyes widened. He had missed that right? Kyoko looked around to see what could have been shot. Kuon was always skillful he would have dodged that.

She heard a second shot and then her husband grunt in pain as he dropped onto the ground.

"Kuon!" Kyoko screamed before seeing one of the men grab his body, hurting him even more and another man smashed the piece of pipe into his head causing him to be completely unconscious and blood to pool around him. "Kuon!" she yelled wanting to run over to his side. "K-Kuon! Get up! Now! Don't be a coward b-baby," she said.

She heard the cops arrive with crowds, but she couldn't concentrate. All she could see was her husband's body on the ground surrounded by his own blood. She wrapped her arms around herself and ran to his side despite the state that she was in. She saw the shallow breaths and reached out to touch his pulse, his heart beat was so weak. "Corn, please…please stay with me," she begged. "Please?" she begged. She reached out and held onto his limp hand, "I'm here, Kuon, I'm right here please don't fly away from me."

….

….

 _Just the previous day, Kyoko had had her thoughts about Ren voiced by someone else. The two of them had been talking with one another when one of their coworkers from their latest project had approached them. Ren knew that this guy had a crush on Kyoko, but he also knew that she hadn't paid the slightest amount of attention to him._

… _._

… _.._

" _You two are so friendly," the male costar grinned, "Are you sure that you're not boyfriend and girlfriend?"_

 _Ren paused and looked down as Kyoko watched his face, he wasn't showing any emotions._

" _Oh, so Kyoko's not the only one with a crush," the guy said as Ren froze and looked up at Kyoko who seemed to be paying more attention to this weasel on her right._

" _Tsuruga-san isn't that type of a person. He has somebody that he's interested in already and it's not me. I don't like how you feel you can just accuse him of such things as liking someone in my position. Tsuruga-san is not like the two of us, he's my inspiration for ac-"_

 _Ren stood and stared at her stunned before smiling and saw her eyes widen and before he could get something out, she had run off._

… _.._

… _.._

 _Kyoko closed her eyes as she remembered that conversation. She put her fists by her side and tried to walk quickly to where she would be meeting with Sawara-san. That was when she bumped into a person much taller than her, she stiffened and looked up at Ren._

 _She looked from side to side as if searching for something._

" _Yashiro-san isn't with me today, I wanted to ask you something, Mogami-san," he told her politely as Kyoko flinched. She didn't want to repeat what had happened the previous day. Was he going to tease her or laugh at her? Was he going to pity her?_

" _If it's about yesterday Tsuruga-san, please pretend that it never happened. It was an unfortunate situation and please pretend that I wasn't there," Kyoko closed her eyes feeling very self conscious. She heard Ren sigh and looked down at his shoe. "Tsuruga-san, might I tell you that it is very rude to sigh to someone who is honestly expressing their apologies?"_

" _Maybe not," Ren said, "but not the reason I was sighing. I actually wanted to ask you, Mogami-san, if you would be available to go to dinner with me tonight," he grinned at her as Kyoko looked up._

 _She wanted to believe that he loved her so much. She would have to wait until dinner to find out._

* * *

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed this so far** **  
I'm planning on updating in batches again and hopefully I'll be able to write a lot more each day so you guys can read faster:**

 **The first batch includes this fic (probably) as well as:**

The Lake in the Park, Secrets, It's Just Like Magic, My Sweetest Corn and My Dearest Kuon, The Voice, The Little Prince, Acceptance, a new collection of random Skip Beat 1-shots, and a New Beauty and the Beast fic I've been planning for some time.


	2. Chapter 2 - New Beginnings

**AN:** I know that this fic is a bit weird and not a lot of people were interested, but I do really hope that those of you who took the time to read this are enjoying it. Thank you for giving this fic a chance.

 **Chapter Two – New Beginnings**

Kuon woke up to find that he had been blindfolded and his body was enclosed in a box or rather a tub or tube. Where on earth was he? Feeling around, Kuon felt that the surrounding material was a thick plastic. That didn't make sense, what was this some alien abduction? He needed to think clearly about this. He reached up and found that the 'blindfold' was made of metal.

This was extremely strange.

He heard a sound like a vacuum and the pod opened, the next thing he heard was a woman's voice. "We've been waiting for you, Kuon," the woman said and Kuon paused, he paled a little not knowing what was going on. "You have been given a blessing by one of the biggest believers of the fairy kingdom."

Kuon paused, he knew who they were talking about but he didn't know what Kyoko had to do with this. He paled again as he remembered the savage way that Kyoko had been hurt and the fight leading to the excruciating pain and then…no pain at all.

"Am I…dead?" he asked as the woman spoke in a sad manner.

"Yes, this is your death, but since you have saved the hope of fairy kind by your protection of Kyoko Hizuri, we are allowed to restore you onto the earth," the woman said. "Although, we can not restore you to your original body, we have designed one for you."

Okay. This was just beyond weird.

"So, I'm dead and you're…okay I'm dreaming, this is a reality show or game show or something," he said before he felt his body being moved. Okay, so he was a contestant on some weird game show where they had him believe that he had died. Had Kyoko been a part of this too? That was completely sickening.

"We have designed your life to fit in with those around you including a new memory bank for you to access and a world in which you have friends, family, a job, a lot of money, and a new start," the fairy said, "However, once we remove your blindfold you will no longer be here with us but ready to start your new life," the woman said. "Good luck, Takeshi Chiba."

….

….

 _Kyoko blushed, she had tried to wear her best clothes and put on makeup to look like the elegant lady that Ren Tsuruga would be going out on a date with and he had arrived at her doorstep in a casual jacket, shirt, and pants. Had she been making too much of this? It wasn't as if she had ever gone on a date before. She bowed her head quickly, "Could you excuse me for just a moment?" she asked._

" _Of course," Ren smiled, "Should I wait down here for you?" he asked as he gave a weak smile to Taisho-san. He knew that the man was eyeing him suspiciously and Kuon was already trying to run a mental clock to see how long it would be before he was approached with a slice of fish. He should have been more specific when he asked her out for dinner, maybe his plan wouldn't work._

 _He smiled politely and was surprised when in less than ten minutes, Kyoko was down in a skirt and blouse that looked as if they matched what he had on. "Hey," he smiled to her, "Ready to go?"_

" _Of course, sorry I was late…I wasn't thinking, when you asked me out to dinner –"_

" _I was actually going to ask you if you wanted to do something fun and get some food when we're there," he grinned to her as Kyoko looked at him curiously. What kind of fun activity did he have in mind? Maybe an amusement park…but wasn't it too late for that? Shopping? What was he thinking?_

….

….

This was strange, maybe the strangest thing that Kuon had ever done in his life. Okay, without a doubt, dying and then coming back in a body that you didn't know was something that not a lot of things beat in the weirdness category. He couldn't stop staring at himself. When he had died he had been twenty-five, now he appeared to be twenty-three and in some very nice designer clothes.

In terms of facial appearance, he looked so much different than he used to. He had light brown hair that seemed to turn blond in the sunlight, it was styled with some kind of gel so it looked that strange mix of casual and professional all at once. His eyes were the emerald green of Kuon Hizuri and his lips seemed the same too, but everything else was…too perfect, too well designed. He had already turned heads with how 'attractive' her was.

The worst part was the height, he had lost about four inches and so could easily blend in with the crowd now. It was different looking at the world from this position, it was unsettling and it made him want to stretch up just to gain that sense of comfort. In terms of physical fitness and well being, well… when the fairies had said that they had designed this body they had _designed_ it with expertise in the care and quality of his physical attributes.

Still, none of this mattered since he didn't know how he was going to convince Kyoko that he was Kuon Hizuri, that he was still a man who loved her and wanted another chance to be with her. He had woken up standing in the middle of Tokyo with a file in his hand.

He now knew his name, the fact that he had an American-Japanese grandfather but otherwise was Japansese, that he was born and raised in Tokyo, that he was a partner in a law firm despite his age, that he had gained top marks at Tokyo University, his phone number, the _very_ nice _house_ he lived in, his yearly income, and a lot of other data. They had definitely tried to give him some good ground to get started on.

None of this mattered when it came to Kyoko though.

He wanted _her_ , nothing else mattered, he wanted to be with her.

If he just turned this corner he'd get to LME.

….

….

" _Bowling?" Kyoko laughed as Ren drove up to the bowling alley. She couldn't believe it. She had suspicions that he actually had a lot of American blood in his veins, but she hadn't expected something so American on their first date. She turned to him, unable to hide her curiosity in his choice of location. "Is this your way of telling me that you're American?" she asked as Ren turned to her._

" _I'm American?" he asked with a playful grin on his face as he pointed to himself._

 _Kyoko laughed and rolled her eyes, "I don't know R-Ren-san, you could be a space alien for all I know. Maybe you're a member of the fairy council. I just like getting to know more about you…for instance…..your real name?"_

" _Ah," Ren said as he held her hand and saw her blush again. "I will tell you that, but let's enjoy our date night tonight and I'll tell you soon. You'll have that to look forward to."_

 _Kyoko froze, "What if I don't want to look forward to it, what if I want to call my boyfriend by his first name?" she asked before freezing. She hadn't meant to define their relationship so early on, it was her stupid brain or maybe the fact that they had been close as the Heel siblings. "Please forget that I said that," she said quickly._

" _I like the sound of being your boyfriend," he grinned to her. "Anyway, are you at least curious why we're here and not some fancy restaurant?"_

" _Because you're really athletic," Kyoko guessed and Ren grinned down upon her._

 _"It's because I want to show you a way of getting your energy and your anger channeled in a positive way, this is something that I sometimes do when it's too stressful to think, so how about it? They do serve hamburger steak here," he said as Kyoko nodded eagerly._

" _I'm looking forward to it," she told him honestly._

 _Kyoko had a feeling that it didn't matter what they were doing, all that she wanted to do was be with him._

….

….

As he looked at the building, Takeshi's eyes widened. Draped down the side of the building were black and white banners of his old self. He noticed some from the start of his career, one as Katsuki from Dark Moon, some more from later on, one when he was receiving a top award, and a couple of him with Kyoko. On the banners were the words: In Memory of Hizuri Kuon, a great actor, friend, father, and husband. We will miss you.

Takeshi's mouth opened as he saw people taking photographs and whispering about the recent death of Japan's top actor and how he had lost his life trying to protect his wife from a crazy stalker fan. Through the crowd, he saw Kyoko standing in black with her face covered and a black hat on holding their little boy, Rikuu in her arms whilst his father…Kuon's father, held Kaguya to him.

"I can't believe you guys will never get to know the amazing person your father was," Kyoko whispered to the two one-year-old twins. She kissed Rikuu's head and her eyes filled with tears as she saw the wind toss the banners around. "Do you think he'd have liked that?" she asked Kuu as the older man stood very still just seeing the short life of his child photographed above him with the letters RIP Kuon.

Kuu didn't know what to say, instead he just looked at his granddaughter and held her to him. "Does it still hurt to stand?" he asked her, "I know you've got therapy tomorrow and…we still need to figure out the funeral."

Kyoko put a hand to her chest feeling sick but nodded, closing her eyes and feeling tears roll down her cheeks.

She bowed her head and then paused as she saw a pair of shoes right ahead of her, she looked up to see an unknown man watching her, she quickly glimpsed into his eyes and the pain was too much. His eyes were too much for her to look at without thinking about the sadness that came with losing the one she lost.

"I thought you might need a package of tissues," he said as he held it out for her but Kyoko took a step back, her hands going around Rikuu so she had him protectively. She had such anger in her eyes. Men, she couldn't take men anymore. The person that she wanted had been murdered because he had attempted to protect her.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked as Kuu protectively stood in front of her, staring Takeshi down.

"I think you should leave," he said before seeing the emerald eyes, there was no chance a regular Japanese guy would have that shade of eye color. This was creepy but it couldKuun't be Kuon. "Who are you? What purpose have you with my daughter?"

"I'm K-" Takeshi found his mouth grow dry, he couldn't say that word. He was unable to tell them.

He tried again but this time no sound came out. If only he had known that he couldn't tell them who he was then he wouldn't have approached them at this moment. He saw Kyoko's fear as well as Kuu's impatience and decided to go down a different direction. "I'm from the Law Firm of Chiba and Tabata. I wanted to offer my legal expertise at no charge for the Kuon Hizuri case. You can check my records, I'm an ace attorney and I think I would be able to help you out with seeking justice."

Kuu took Takeshi's business card as he held it out to them and stared into those eyes, there was something so terrifyingly familiar about them. "We'll think about it. I'm sure we'll get a lot of offers since this is a high profile case. I want my son to have the best representation, that's the least he deserves because he deserves a hell of a lot better than a burial site."

"I agree," Takeshi nodded as he walked away, his heart breaking at how the truth wouldn't come out.

He just hoped that at least one of them would call, otherwise it'd take a little more strategic thinking.

 **AN2:** Again thank you to everyone who has checked out this fic, special thanks to **Ashenvale** who reviewed the previous chapter.


	3. Chapter 3 - (Kuon's) Dad

**AN:** Even though this fic isn't that popular, it is so fun for me to write the juxtaposition of scenes so I'm hoping that you enjoy it too 😊 I have some great ideas for this so thank you to all who are following this story, it really does mean a lot to me. – Fay

 **Chapter Three – (Kuon's) Dad**

It had already been two days and they hadn't had contact. Maybe they were never going to and he, Kuon, Takeshi, whoever was going to have to find another way of getting to her. He wanted to go and take care of his kids. He wanted to go and take care of her, but there was something blocking him from doing so, namely the fact that he was a completely different person and after the experiences that she had been having he would scare her if he were to go see her.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked around. Apparently, he was some kind of prodigy. He had graduated early from Tokyo U having blown through middle and high school at Tokyo's most elite schools, then he had come to his father's company and taken over his seat from him. He had more money than Kuon Hizuri. He seemed to have more connections to important people than Kuon Hizuri. He didn't have Kuon Hizuri's life despite that being the one that he really wanted.

"Chiba-san," he heard a junior attorney say as they approached him, "You have a visitor in the lobby. I wasn't sure whether to invite him up or not."

Takeshi sighed as he tapped his pencil against the legal documents from some celebrity he hadn't heard of trying to file a case against director shingai for inappropriate behavior. Somehow he had gained all of this legal knowledge, but he also had all of his old memories. He wasn't sure if this girl was being overly dramatic, but apparently he was meant to represent her.

"I'm going to need more than being told that I have a potential client," he told the man who was actually older than him. "Give me their name and a summary of why he's here."

"Well, I'm sure that you've heard of him," the attorney grinned, "Hizuri Kuu."

Takeshi's eyes widened and lit up. "I'll go down and see him myself," he said before stepping out of his office. "You say he's in the lobby," he said and the lawyer nodded. Hopefully this meeting would go well, it was very important that it did.

…

…..

 _Ren had just taken Kyoko out to a high-class restaurant as she had told him on their first date that she thought he would take her to. As they walked off the meal, Ren turned towards Kyoko and thought about how gorgeous she was. This was their third date and he was extremely happy and felt lucky that things were turning out so well between the two of them._

 _Ren paused as Kyoko turned to him with a frown, he was surprised she had that sort of an emotion on her face this time. "What is it?" he asked and Kyoko looked away. Was she being selfish by asking him this? Well, maybe he wasn't ready to tell her. "What's wrong?"_

"Ren, I love spending time with you, but I want to call you by your first name at least when we're in private," she said and Ren sighed. So it had come to this already. Would she be able to forgive him for lying to her?

"You mean my real name not my stage name," he said awkwardly. He looked away, "Can you promise that you won't tell anyone?" he asked and Kyoko nodded.

" _I don't know why you even have to ask me that, I know that it's a secret and you're my boyfriend. I promise you that I will not let this secret be spread," she said as Ren sighed._

" _I have a famous father…I have a famous mother too come to that, but my father is more famous. He's in the industry," he said nervously as Kyoko nodded. That made sense. "You've worked with him before."_

 _Kyoko paused and looked at him surprised, "I have?"_

…

…..

As Takeshi stepped out of the elevator, he saw his father – Kuon's father sitting down with a book in his hands. In interest, Takeshi tilted his head to the side and was surprised to see it was a children's book that had been his favorite growing up. His mother and father had liked to read to him before he went to sleep and they would often put on the voices. The book his father was holding was one that they often read. Noticing that Kuu was wearing nothing but black and grey, he walked over to him.

"Hello there," he said as he held out his hand, "I'm glad that you decided to meet with me. I was expecting you to call," he said as Kuu nodded but took his hand politely. "Interesting reading choice, was it something that your son enjoyed?" he asked and Kuu looked at the book.

"Yes, it was his favorite," Kuu nodded as he slipped it into his bag. "I'm not sure that I'm hiring you for this case, I'd like to see if you can convince me to do so. I just know that I want somebody to represent him."

Takeshi nodded and sat down in a seat opposite the actor, "May I tell you a story, Hizuri-san?" he asked politely as Kuu looked around and nodded stiffly. "When I was about fifteen years old, I had gone through some kind of terrible tragedy and my parents didn't know how to help me -" he said as Kuu flinched and looked down, trying to avoid those emerald eyes.

"I don't see what this has to do with my son's case," he interrupted and Takeshi looked up and sighed.

"Perhaps if we were to talk over coffee or if I was to pay for dinner somewhere," he said before Kuu looked down not wanting to say anything. "Or, maybe I could just finish with what I'm saying." Takeshi ran a hand over his eyes. "When I was fifteen my father thought the best thing for me to do was to contact his friend, a president of a major entertainment agency, to offer me a chance of restarting my life. When this man arrived, my parents weren't around but my father, a famous actor, arrived back early from where he had been acting a role in what I believe was a thriller titled Rose Garden."

Kuu froze and looked back at the man in front of him, his face pale, eyes wide and mouth opening due to how speechless he was.

"I left home with just the clothes I was wearing and my passport. My mother missed out on saying goodbye to me, but according to my father who visited me a number of years afterwards, she wouldn't speak to him for six months following that departure." Takeshi saw Kuu staring at him as if he was a ghost. "That is why I think that I am the best person to represent your son in the legal field, because I am your -" his throat tightened again and he was unable to finish that sentence but Kuu had reached out to place a hand on his wrist.

In an extremely shaky voice, Kuu looked into Takeshi's eyes and whispered, "K-K-Kuon? Is that you?"

Takeshi nodded, he looked around where people were observing the two of them thinking about how this case would look on the books for the law firm and the prestige that came from such a case. "I literally cannot say the words, my throat closes as if the same magic that makes it so that I am here prevents me from giving the name in my past life, but I can answer honestly, yes."

"Do you think it's possible that you take me out to lunch? As an attorney-client procedure?" Kuu said as he continued to stare at the man in front of him in great amazement. What was going on here? He was relieved when Takeshi nodded.

…

…

 _Ren nodded nervously, "It was when you were acting a role," he said unsure how to give away the fact that he was Kuon Hizuri. He did trust her with keeping the information private, but he was scared of her anger if she found out that he was Corn and that he had lied to her._

" _Is he a director? An actor?" Kyoko tried to guess before pausing, "Was he in Dark Moon?" she asked and Ren looked away._

" _In a way…" he said awkwardly._

" _That must have been really impressive for the two of you to keep your relationship hidden, that makes you a pro at acting," Kyoko nodded knowing that Ren had interacted with all of the actors and crew that had been part of putting together the drama. She saw Ren sigh._

" _He was in Tsuki ga Mori, not Dark Moon," he said before seeing Kyoko trying to think of the candidates. "He's a very famous actor, loves his son, lives in America." With that clue he saw Kyoko's eyes widen and she looked at him from head to toe to see his weak smile._

" _You're –" she gasped before her eyes widened even more, "You're Kuon?" she asked and he gave her a guilty look._

" _Yes," he nodded honestly, "I'm Kuon Hizuri."_

…..

…..

After they had had dinner and discussed everything that Takeshi could about who he was now and about the best way of approaching the case, blowing Kuu away with his newly developed legal mind, the two men were sitting and waiting for the check. Takeshi reached for it first as the waiter put it down in front of them.

"You know," Kuu smiled as he still tried to take in that this man before him _was_ his deceased son who had to live another life now. "If you were really the lawyer I hired to handle my son's case, _I_ would be picking that up. I'm glad that you managed to eat a whole plate though."

"This body is strange," Takeshi said as he pulled out a few large bills. He thanked the waiter as he handed it back to him. "It needs a lot more fuel than my old one," he looked at Kuu and smiled. "You're still my dad," he told him in a very quiet voice, "at least, I hope you'll still be wi—"

"Of course," Kuu nodded. "You have my phone number and email address, if you need to get in touch with me for _anything_ ," he tried to stress as Takeshi looked down and nodded.

"I'll have to set up a meeting," he joked before nodding. "I know, I'll keep in touch. Besides, it might take a while to go through the evidence for this trial and there could always be appeals afterwards. Who knows, maybe you'll have to retain my legal counsel for something else in the future."

"Or maybe I'd just want to invite you to a movie or maybe have you become a member of my official family. I'm thinking you still want to reach out to Kyoko, let her know who you really are," Kuu said as the waiter returned and Takeshi pocketed the change.

"I think that it's going to be hard to get through to her, much harder than with you. You came because you thought that I had services that I could offer you to help with your son's case and I am predicting that there was a reason that you came rather than the two of you together. I'm going to be alright, but perhaps you might be able to help set up some opportunities for me to tell her?" he asked Kuu as he stood up and prepared to leave the restaurant.

Kuu grabbed his wrist, "Kuon," he whispered as he saw those comforting green eyes focus on him. "Whatever is going on here, I'm always here for you just as I always have been. If you need someone to talk to, someone who you know loves you unconditionally, contact me. I have to go to your funeral and that is going to be tough on me, but promise me that if you feel any sadness or loneliness which you are bound to do, contact me. I don't care if you just want to go to a baseball game and sit next to me without speaking, please promise me that you'll contact me. This must be too painful to go through alone."

Takeshi looked back at Kuu and lowered his defenses, "Thanks, Dad" he whispered and Kuu nodded shakily. He just wanted to keep Kuon – or Takeshi alive this time.

 **AN2:** Thank you for everyone who has read this fic so far, even a single hit means a lot when it's a fic I'm passionate about like this one. Special shout out to **Ashenvale** for reviewing. I'm hoping to advertise this fic on another of mine because I really am enjoying writing it 😊


	4. Chapter 4 - Identity

**AN:** I know I've been writing and updating this pretty quickly due to excitement but I'm going to work on some other fics and get back to this one in a couple of days, thank you for all of your support of course 😊

 **Chapter Four - Identity**

Takeshi stared down at the corpse of Kuon Hizuri as he stood by Kuu's side at the mortuary. They had been trying to analyze the body for lab results and to find out the make of the weapons or at least the bullets and fingerprints so they could make sure to punish the right guys. Takeshi was still unsure why, the day following their meeting, Kuu had invited him down here.

Right now it was just the two of them standing there and Kuu looked as deathly pale as the corpse, "This is the single weirdest thing that I have ever done," Takeshi said as he looked at his father. "I mean, I don't even think I've, the new me, has even worked a murder case before," he said and Kuu turned to him.

"You mean that you've never stood in a different body, looking down at the murdered corpse of who you were in your past life trying to find details for a mur—der that you personally experienced?" Kuu asked, he was unable to stop his voice from cracking. "Chiba-san," he said formally, "I'm thinking it's not what you would call a common occurrence."

Takeshi reached out and touched himself knowing how strange it was to be placing his fingers on his old body as if it belonged to a stranger. He heard the way that Kyoko had responded to the gunshot wound as he put his finger to it and felt a ghost like pain on his own skin.

"I think if I had thought more strategically about it, I might have been able to avoid it," Takeshi said before seeing Kuu looking upon the body with tears in his eyes. "Dad," Takeshi whispered, "It's okay. I'm here. I know it's strange but I'm here, I'm not Kuon anymore but I'm still _him_ in a spiritual sense, I still have my own memories and passions and characteristics, just packaged a bit differently. You have to keep thinking that."

Kuu nodded, "I'm fine. It's just that this is the body of my son who I wanted to watch grow old, who I wanted to stand in the audience and support, who I could meet from the airport when he came to visit with his wife and kids. I miss him. I was supposed to look out for him and I couldn't keep him safe. I failed as a father."

"No," Takeshi sighed, "You just had a dumb son who was reckless and thought he was too good to be beat. Besides, nobody is supposed to have a gun in Japan," he said as he looked over at his father. "If anything, I failed myself. If I had been more aware of my surroundings like you had tried to teach me."

"You're here now, right?" Kuu said as he looked at Takeshi, trying to remind himself of that fact. "Come on, we both worked as actors, we can come up with some plausible excuse to remain father and son without the public even noticing."

Takeshi nodded and continued inspecting the body for clues. He froze as he heard a voice behind them.

"Get your hands off of my husband right now, you dirt bag"

Takeshi turned around and saw the grieving widow. She looked like she hadn't slept, hadn't eaten, and was about to pass out. Takeshi's eyes widened even more when he noticed a gun in her hands. Where on earth had she got that?

"Kyo—kko" he said as Kuu stepped in front of him protectively.

…

…

 _Kyoko blinked at him and then paused as different pieces of the puzzle were starting to make more sense. Suddenly she felt that everyone around her was playing games with her that she wouldn't be allowed to join. Kyoko wrapped her arms around herself as she thought about how Ren hadn't told her about the Dark Moon acting test._

" _You say that so casually but if it really didn't mean anything then why didn't you tell me earlier," Kyoko tried to argue. She saw his weak expression and realized that it hadn't been easy for him at all._

" _There's another thing that I should tell you," Ren said with a sigh, he needed to collect his thoughts but that wasn't happening right at this time._

" _And what's that? What else are you hiding?" Kyoko asked still stunned with what she had learned was Ren's real name._

" _I'm not a fairy," he pointed to himself and Kyoko froze. She thought back on what he had told her about magic and spells and how Corn had said those things and how Corn had borrowed a voice. Kyoko's mouth widened as she just stood there in shock._

" _How. Could. You. Not. Tell. Me!?" she yelled not sure what emotion to express. She saw his guilty smile._

…

…..

"Kyoko," Kuu said slowly as Takeshi raised his hands in the air to show that he meant no harm and had no weapon to use against her. He didn't know what had made this woman so afraid but then that was most likely a stupid question. Kyoko had started off having a hard time believing in love and romance. She had had her heartbroken and then had found someone she could actually have a relationship with. Then the one good man had been killed by someone who had hurt her.

It didn't take a legal degree to figure out that she wasn't comfortable with new men entering her life.

"I promise that I am only here on legal business, only here because this man, Hizuri-san, hired me to represent Kuon in the trial stages," Takeshi said slowly as Kuu reached out for the gun.

"He's K-" Kuu tried but noticed his own throat grow dry and looked back at Takeshi.

So, they weren't allowed to use names but they were allowed to give personal anecdotes. How on earth did that work? These rules were getting more complicated to follow. Takeshi nodded, knowing what was going through his father's mind.

"I don't care," Kyoko whispered as her eyes narrowed, "I don't want anyone touching _him_ without my permission," she said before looking at her husband's corpse and breaking down. She felt her heart start to splinter and her eyes filled with tears.

"Kyoko…I…" Takeshi said weakly and Kyoko looked down.

"I don't want to hear anything further from you," she said as she looked at him. "What are you going to say, that you're doing this case probono because you think that you might make me fall in love with you? This isn't a -"

"He's not doing the case for free," Kuu said as Takeshi stared at him. What was he talking about? "He's a skilled lawyer and he already has a clear idea of how to approach this case. That's why I hired him, but there's other reasons as well. You should let him tell you those reasons."

"I don't want to hear anything from him," Kyoko said, "You're the one who is doing all the work trying to get justice for Kuon in the legal manner. Laws don't work with these people, Father. I want revenge for Kuon and for myself just as much as you do."

"Ky—" Takeshi began but Kyoko cut him off.

"Don't speak. Please do me a favor and don't speak. Your words mean nothing to me," she argued as Kuu looked between the two of them.

"Kyoko, I think you need to li-"

"It's okay," Takeshi said in a patient manner, "It's okay. She's not ready to listen and I would rather not push her. I apologize," Takeshi said as he dropped down into a bow. He looked at her lovingly, which seemed to creep her out even more, and tried to memorize her in case it was some time before he would next see her.

As he passed her he put his hand on hers where he saw a blue stone peeking out, "I'm so glad that Corn is still able to help you," he told her before whispering in her ear, "and Princess Rosa looks especially beautiful today. I hope the pain lessens for you, I really do," he said as she looked into those emerald eyes and nodded shakily as she watched him leave.

…..

…..

" _Maybe I didn't tell you because I was scared that you wouldn't accept that I was Corn?" he asked and Kyoko froze. She hadn't expected him to be so blunt about that. "We didn't really meet on the best playing field and I didn't want to turn your good memories into bad ones," Ren sighed. He looked down, "I hope you can forgive me."_

" _I'm really mad right now," Kyoko told him before sighing, "and I want to hit you for not telling me, but I'm also happy. I'm just," she looked at him. "Can I be mad and still be your girlfriend?" she asked, "because I need some time to process all of this, but I still think I love you."_

" _You can have as much time as you need," Ren told her. "I am sorry, Kyoko," he told her. "I should have told you but I felt that I kept missing my chances," he tried to explain as she nodded and looked down._

" _I can understand that, but you could have told me that you were Corn. I would have been happy to have known that," Kyoko said. "It's a bit like we were meant to be together, don't you think?"_

" _Maybe," Ren nodded. "Although I always thought that was Fuwa."_

" _Meeting a fairy prince from your childhood that you only spent a few days with is much more fortuitous than following a guy from back home," Kyoko grinned. "Okay, I'm a little less mad at you but I'm still angry, I feel like you tricked me."_

" _Don't you usually feel like I'm out to trick you," Ren grinned to her playfully causing Kyoko to pout._

…..

…..

Kuu paused as he saw Kyoko's eyes fill even more with tears. "You told him," she said hearing her heart breaking, "You told a random stranger about things that are special between Kuon and I. How could you?" she said with her fists at her side. "Kuon gave me Princess Rosa, he also gave me Corn," she showed Kuu the stone she was holding.

"Princess Rosa?" Kuu asked as Kyoko frowned even more.

"Don't pretend you don't know about it, Father. How could some person that I've never met before even say those things to me if you weren't trying to matchmake. I married your son. His body is right there," she pointed, "and he's dead because he tried to protect me. Don't tell some random….liar something that is special," Kyoko said as Kuu put two fingers on his forehead.

"He has the same eyes," Kuu tried to explain as Kyoko wrapped an arm around her chest.

"So, do a lot of people, Father. Maybe in Japan not a lot of people have green eyes but in the world there are millions of people who have green eyes," Kyoko argued. "You can't say all brown-eyed people are bad and all green-eyed people are good," she said. "My husband is dead, Kuu and you're letting your grief drive you to insanity."

"Listen, Kyoko. As far as I know Takeshi Chiba has never met Julie and unless you've talked about this Princess Rosa in magazines or on talk shows, I'm not sure where he got that information because it wasn't from me," Kuu sighed before looking back at the body.

"People can't come back from the dead, Kuu" Kyoko tried to argue as she hastily tried to wipe away her tears.

Kuu looked away, "I didn't think so either, but that is… _him_."

Kyoko froze before turning and running back up the steps. Maybe she didn't believe Kuu and his words, but what if she was wrong. Did she really want to let him go without making absolutely sure? As she got to the main room, he was gone and she had no idea how to find him.

… **.**

… **.**

 **AN2:** Thank you everyone who has supported this fic so far and thank you to **Ashenvale** and **ktoll9** for their reviews on the previous chapter.


	5. Chapter 5 - Going to See Him

**AN:** Thank you for reading this chapter and supporting this fic, it means a lot to me

 **Chapter Five – Going to See Him**

Kyoko nervously stood outside the building where the law firm was. It seemed pretty extravagant, but maybe this was what the top legal firms actually looked like. Maybe she was looking for something other than a logical answer. Kyoko had her fingers curled around a business card that Kuu had given her for Takeshi Chiba. She noticed that the eyes and the lips were the same but everything else was not Kuon.

Kyoko paused as she entered the building and saw people staring at her. This was wrong, right? She must have lost her mind. Kuu was obviously grieving his child and it wasn't unusual for parents in mourning to believe other people were their kid. _That_ must be it.

Walking over to the front desk, Kyoko caught people looking at her and whispering between themselves.

Today Kyoko was wearing a black skirt and dark grey blouse, she had dark grey tights and black shoes with a black hat on. She missed him and apart from Corn, colors were too bright. Maybe that was why the lawyer's eyes made her uncomfortable. Corn…Kuon had been colorful and vibrant, but now he was gone.

"Excuse me," Kyoko said politely to the woman at the front desk. "I'm here to see Chiba-san?" she asked and the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Chiba Takeshi?" she asked and Kyoko nodded.

"He's the lawyer who is representing me and my husband in the mu- in the case," she told her and the woman nodded.

"Do you have an appointment with him?" she asked and Kyoko stiffened. She should have considered that. Takeshi Chiba was a famous and most likely hardworking lawyer, he probably was dealing with a number of cases and if it _was_ Kuon then he would be trying hard to use skills he had never been taught.

Kyoko shook her head and the woman nodded before picking up the phone, "I'll see if he's available now."

Before she dialed the number however, a female lawyer in her late twenties grabbed the phone and placed it down. "Takeshi-san is in a very important meeting right now? It would be wrong to disturb him, don't you think?" she asked as she looked Kyoko over judgmentally.

Kyoko stiffened. "I'll wait until he's done, please tell him that I'm here when he gets out of his meeting," she said before dropping into a bow and walking over to where she could sit and wait at one of the tables. She didn't know if it was him, she just wanted to find out.

…..

…..

 _Ren was walking down the hallway of LME by himself. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing anymore. Kyoko had been frustrated with him for nearly a week this time. Had he been stupid not to tell her that he was Corn earlier? He knew that Corn was important to her but he had wanted to save himself, that was pathetic._

 _As he paced the corridor, he saw Kyoko approaching him in the opposite direction and stood still. He hoped that she would talk to him again and not just pass him. He wanted to love her, but he felt that he had only offered her betrayal._

" _Ren," Kyoko said as she stood in front of him, "I can accept what you told me now, I'm ready," she said and Ren smiled to her._

" _Well, that's good but can I ask what your acceptance means?" he said, leaning forwards so he could be more at her level._

" _It means that I'd like to date you again," Kyoko said and Ren grinned._

" _Is that so?" he asked with a playful smile and Kyoko nodded. "Well then I'd love to take you out tonight, anywhere you want to go."_

" _Hamburger steaks?" Kyoko asked as Ren laughed._

" _Sure, hamburger steaks."_

…..

…..

Takeshi was not in a meeting, instead he was looking at the view through his window as he also had the paperwork for the Shingai case in front of him. This view was fantastic, even better than the one that Lory Takarada had, but it didn't mean anything without _her_. Seeing Kyoko the previous day had made him realize just how hurt she was by all of this and made him feel that she would never allow him to look after her.

He had to hope that she would think about what he had said and call him. Maybe all she wanted to do was ask him a few questions to clarify what he had whispered to her. Even if she was yelling at him, he would take it. He just wanted to hear her voice, see her face, smell the perfume she loved and he had bought for her.

Still, since she was mourning her husband and he technically wasn't Kuon any longer, maybe seeing her again without outside interference was just a dream. As he sat thinking about the case he was working on, Takeshi heard a tap at the door and turned to see one of the female lawyers.

"Good afternoon, Uesugi-san," he said politely as he looked at the lawyer who had just claimed that he had been in a business meeting. "How can I help you today?"

"I was wondering if you were hungry, Chiba-san" the lawyer, Kagura, asked with a love-struck smile. "I thought that you might enjoy some company tonight. We could go to dinner, maybe a little dessert at my place after."

Takeshi raised an eyebrow, "My apologies, but I don't think that I'm the person that you're looking for."

Kagura smiled despite what he had just said to her. "No, you are exactly the hot, sweet, cute lawyer that I was hoping to see," she said as Takeshi looked away. "You can't say that -"

"This could be considered sexual harassment, Usesugi-san" Takeshi said with a firm impression. "I strongly suggest that you leave my office and find someone who will respond favorably to your request. If you don't stop this then I do have the power to have you leave the firm."

Kagura rolled her eyes, "One day, Chiba-san," she said before looking at him. "Is there anything that I can help you out with professionally?" she asked and Takeshi smiled weakly.

"If Hizuri Kyoko calls or makes an appearance here, please tell me immediately," he said as Kagura stared at him with bitterness in her eyes. "That is all."

"Of course," Kagura said before leaving the room. What did Takeshi want with that woman anyway?

…

…

 _Kyoko smiled as she sat in the family style restaurant opposite her boyfriend. She didn't want to admit to it because she didn't want to be one of those foolish girls who didn't think about their own happiness anymore, but she had missed him. She picked up her cup of tea and sipped it as she watched him._

" _Do you ever think that you'd be ready to tell everyone who you really are?" she asked, more for curiosity's sake than anything else._

 _Ren hummed, "I'd like to make it so that people can see my natural acting ability," he told her, "I'd hate for people to think of me as just my father's son."_

 _Kyoko laughed, "You could come out tomorrow then, I think you've surpassed Kuu-sama's star some time ago. I think that people would be surprised, but I think you could handle it."_

" _Well," Ren smiled, "Will you stay by my side if I do tell the world? There might be a lot of follow up questions and interviews?"_

" _Bring it," Kyoko grinned. "I can do anything if I'm with you, Corn."_

…..

…..

Kyoko looked up as Kagura approached her, "I'm sorry," the lawyer said to the grieving actress, "Chiba-san will be occupied for much longer than I had expected. If you wait here, you might have to wait a few hours. I could tell him that you dropped by," she said acting very sweet.

Kyoko shook her head, "No, it's alright. I'm sure that Chiba-san is very busy right now and I can wait a little longer for him to be ready," she said. Maybe this was a sign, if Takeshi was Kuon brought back from the dead with magic, wouldn't he want to see her immediately? He would usually make sure to take a break just to spend some time with her.

As she sat there, reading over a script for a part she was offered, she heard Kagura whispering with a paralegal.

"It's amazing how much she pretends to care for her deceased husband," Kagura said to Mei, a paralegal who was about the same age as her.

"I don't think she's faking it. I think that she misses her husband terribly, everyone has seen the pictures of how happy Kuon and Kyoko Hizuri were with one another. I think that this has been such a tragedy for her and I feel sorry for her," Mei whispered back as Kagura rolled her eyes.

"Newspapers often talk of stories which aren't true and magazines especially. Did you hear of _how_ Kuon Hizuri died?"

Kyoko flinched as she tried to ignore this. She couldn't deal with the guilt that came when people told the story. She knew that if she had just waited at the building for him she would have been frustrated with how over-protective he was but she would still be able to wrap her arms around him, lean up and kiss him, tell him that she loved him. If she hadn't have been so reckless then she would still have an alive Kuon.

Kyoko struggled to maintain a calm composure. She couldn't eat or sleep because she missed him so much. She missed his playful scolding, the way he made her feel safe, she even missed the anger in his eyes when he was pretty pissed off.

"He wanted to protect her and then they shot him," Mei said, "I've seen the paperwork on the case. At least Kuon Hizuri died a hero protecting somebody that he loved. That's very respectable. I wish I had a guy die for me like that."

Kyoko looked down, she closed her eyes trying to hold back the pain. These women didn't know her position, they didn't know who she was or even who Kuon was. Even if they had broken up, she would still have been able to see him and make sure that he was alive. She would stalk him online, get jealous, feel the pain inside her whole body that gave her a desire to die, but he would still be moving and speaking and more than a corpse being investigated.

"You've just said it," Kagura said, "He died _because_ of her."

That was the sharp pain that broke Kyoko and she stood from her seat at the table. She wrapped an arm around herself trying not to let anyone see her pain. She _knew_ it was because of her that he was dead. She realized that there were things that she could have done differently that would save his life. They had both placed an enormous amount of faith in his physical abilities and didn't realize that he _wasn't_ a god.

Coming here had been a mistake. Even if Takeshi was Kuon, he didn't want to see her. He might have even been making up these meetings so that he could avoid seeing her. Kyoko didn't blame him if that was the situation. She was being selfish wanting to know the truth because she had as good as murdered him herself. He was protecting her when he died. It was ridiculous to come here and self-centered, he would be much better off without her.

Kyoko swiftly moved to the doorway. She should just forget about this guy and move on, even if he was Kuon wasn't it better if she didn't ruin his life again. If they were together, wasn't there a chance he could die again and this time _not_ come back as somebody else.

"I'm sorry, Kuon," she whispered before leaving.

…..

…..

 **AN2:** I think I updated this fic too fast the last time 😊 I hope people are enjoying it, I'm definitely enjoying writing it. Thank you to those supporting this fic.


	6. C6 - You're Hopeless at Grocery Shopping

**AN:** Yay for late night writing 😊 I've also come to determine that I want to write a whole bunch and then update when I go to work because I like getting on my phone and seeing the hits and reviews when I'm on lunch. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I'm so thankful people have been reading this.

 **Chapter Six – You're Hopeless at Grocery Shopping**

Kyoko looked down at her twins as they slept. As she heard the words that she had said at the law office play again in her head, her eyes filled with tears. Her heartbeat quivered and she let her fingers stretch out on Rikuu's belly as she lightly tickled the baby boy.

She felt so hopeless about all of it. These children wouldn't have their father to guide them and to show them love and kindness can go well with maturity and professionalism. He wasn't there to protect them as he had always protected her. She closed her eyes. All the things that they would miss out on when it came to him and all the things that he never had a chance to do.

It made her want to quit acting.

Kuon's dream had been to be a star international actor. How could she follow her own dream when he had died giving his life to protect hers. Tears came to her eyes again and she shuddered. She felt so guilty about all of this. The worst part was the blond hair that both of these babies somehow had. That would always remind her of her golden-haired fairy prince.

Maybe there was time to try again at the law office, didn't lawyers tend to stay up pretty late? Maybe she would catch him going to his car and…she shuddered thinking about it. A man going to his car. A man who could possibly outpower her going to his car in a parking garage. A man of high stature as well. Kyoko's eyes widened as she thought it over. Maybe she could just go and see what time the offices closed.

She walked out of the room after kissing both children on their heads and then went to see Kuu. They had been staying with her whilst in Japan. Maybe Kuu would be the best person to talk to, he had seemed convinced that the lawyer they had hired had been Kuon, maybe it was time to disprove that theory.

…..

….

 _Ren looked at Kyoko with a soft smile on his face. Today the two of them had decided to go and take a walk through a park that had a special area for VIPs. There were so many beautiful plants and animals and inside of Ren, Kuon felt at peace._

" _This reminds me of where we met," Kyoko said as Ren raised an eyebrow._

" _Wow, maybe I took you to the wrong place if this reminds you of LME, although I can see a few of the president's favorite colors," he teased her and Kyoko grinned back with a twinkle in her eyes._

" _This is like the woods in Kyoto," she said as Ren nodded._

" _Oh, I see what you mean," he teased her and Kyoko came back to take his hand._

" _You're always teasing me," she said, "You've been playfully teasing me ever since I dropped Corn and you realized who I really was. Is that your strange way of showing me more attention, Ren? To tease me?"_

" _Well," Ren smiled back to her, "What is the goal of an actor in regard to his costar?" he asked her and Kyoko laughed happily._

" _To see how he's going to react," she said before trying to playfully hit him. ren dodged her attempts._

…..

…..

Takeshi held up both packets of shrimp at the expensive market near the law office. He had wanted to make himself an Italian dish that Kyoko had learned how to make for him. Once she had worked on it to the point where she liked it, she had taught him how to do it. His cooking skills had improved to the point where he could cook edible meals.

He sighed as he looked at both items and then closed his eyes trying to remember that Kyoko would tell him he had to look for certain things. "Come on," he whispered to himself, "What did Kyoko say? Labels don't matter, make sure to check the date, look at the backs of the seafood to see the vein, price is-"

"You always were hopeless at grocery shopping," a heartbroken woman said as she stood behind him. "Ever since that time when -"

"Okay, I've improved a bit since the Oahu omelet incident and that was intended to be a challenge," Takeshi said as he looked back at Kyoko and both of their eyes widened. He froze and looked down not knowing what to do with this. Kyoko looked away but shuffled as if she wanted to say something.

"Are you?" Kyoko asked him as she looked into the emerald eyes, "Sorry. I must be really sleepy, I…"

"I would invite you round for an acting test, but I bet I'm going to be getting those NGs myself. Plus, I don't think I could open all the cupboards in the way that I used to. I feel like I've lost a bit of height," he tried to smile in a very familiar way.

Kyoko just stared at him in shock.

"I could make you wear kitty ears or that god wolf costu-" Takeshi attempted to joke some more. Kyoko couldn't say anything, she just walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him with tears filling her eyes rapidly. Takeshi turned so that nobody could see them and he looked at Kyoko just allowing her to hold onto him.

"I-Iimsossorryccorn" Kyoko blubbered all at once. Takeshi pulled her close as much as he used to despite the fact that he was much closer to her height now.

"It's okay," he whispered, "It will all be okay."

…..

…..

 _As they walked towards an open spot in the park, Kuon saw a stand selling hot udon as well as drinks. This was a part that was still private but less privatized. Still, the food was said to be incredible. "Are you hungry?" he asked her and Kyoko felt her stomach growl in response to that question. "I suppose it is time to eat for a normal person," he grinned to her._

" _Your stomach is broken, Ren" Kyoko teased him. "How can you say this is when a normal person would eat?"_

" _I think it's a calculation that I did on my phone, I read it somewhere," Ren admitted._

" _You have an app on your phone to tell you when you're hungry or not?" Kyoko asked him. She sighed and then something in the distance caught her eye._

" _Ye-" Ren began to reply to her before seeing her eyes widen and he noticed what she was looking at, "We'll go to the wishing well first," he told her as he kissed the top of her head. "Besides, it's a rare free day that the two of us have and we both have a lot of work tomorrow, why don't we enjoy it?"_

" _You almost never have a free day," Kyoko said as Ren looked at her playfully._

" _Almost never means you can pull some strings," he smiled to her happily._

…..

…..

Kyoko stood nervously at one of the front aisles of the store as she watched Takeshi pay for the ingredients. In terms of appearance he was so different than the Kuon Hizuri she knew, but she would catch those familiar mannerisms and the way that he moved his new body and she would know that it was him. He just hadn't gone into the specifics but apparently, he had met the fairy council.

Once he had smiled to the grocery store worker and turned to leave with his bag, Kyoko came over to his side. She tried to take the bag from him but he looked at her confused.

"Hey," Takeshi said slowly as he looked down at the ingredients that he was holding. "So, your advice is to cook these for a very short time when the spaghetti has been in the pot for about four minutes and then put the white wine sauce on?" he asked and Kyoko looked at him, watching him.

"Can we make a deal?" Kyoko asked as she looked at the physical shell that held the man she loves inside. "You come home with me tonight and I'll make it for you. We can sit in front of the TV and chat and then I…" she saw his very guilty and very adorable expression that she knew was when he wanted to give into her but it wasn't possible.

"We can set up a meeting at my office, how about that?" he asked her and Kyoko thought back to the paralegal and the other lawyer's conversation and tears came into her eyes again. She knew that this was Kuon inside and yet he was so angry to turn her away. He didn't want to come back with her. She bit her lip and nodded.

"At least I know you're safe," she said before looking down, "I won't bother you anymore Chi-"

Takeshi's eyes widened, "You're not bothering me," he said quickly. "It's just you're a celebrity, you know as well as I do that if you are seen with men coming into your house at night this soon after your husband's passing…"

"Will you promise me that you'll see me if I come?" Kyoko asked almost begging him. "I promise I won't say anything about your former life, we don't even have to act romantic together when we're alone," Kyoko bowed down very quickly. "Please forgive me, I'm so sorry that I…I…please don't hate me."

Takeshi watched her in shock and tried to encourage her to stand up, "Of course I'll see you if you come. I've been telling the people in the firm that the Hizuri Kuon case is top priority and if you come that you will be sent straight to my office. There's even a little waiting area directly outside my office in case I was in a meeting or on the phone or something."

Kyoko stared at him in complete bewilderment, "You didn't know?" she asked him as he looked at her sharing in the confusion.

…..

…..

" _I'm still working on my wish," Kyoko called out to her boyfriend who was standing away from her with his arms folded and his eyes drinking her in._

" _Take your time!" Ren called out to her, "I'm just going to be looking at how adorable you are!"_

" _You should be making your own wish, not staring at me" Kyoko said as she turned red and saw a smile of satisfaction on Ren's face._

" _I don't need to," he called to her, "When I look at you I have proof that my wish has already come true,"_

 _Kyoko froze and then looked at the 500 yen coin she was about to toss in the well, "Please keep me and Kuon together," she whispered as she kissed her hand and tossed it into the well._

….

….

"I came to see you today," Kyoko said before looking down at the ground, "They told me that you were in a meeting, that you would be in meetings all day. I thought that you didn't want to -" Kyoko flinched as she saw anger in Takeshi's eyes.

"Who told this to you?" he asked and Kyoko froze. Was this going to cause problems with his job? She didn't want him to lose it due to her hurt feelings, he had already lost the life that he had had.

"It's okay, it's okay" she said quickly and Takeshi turned back to her.

"Okay, the next time you come I need you to channel your stubbornness, alright?" he asked her and Kyoko nodded shakily. "You need to get your guts to come out, you tell them that you're going to go up to my office whether they like it or not. You get them to call me down there if there is a problem," he kissed her forehead lightly as she looked at him nervously and flinched a little. Kuon had to kick himself, Takeshi had kissed her despite how the situation had been because a stalker wanted her too much.

"I'm sorry, princess," Takeshi whispered before Kyoko placed a hand on his cheek and kissed his lips. She smiled as she pulled back.

"Now I know why the fairies kept your lips the same," she said as she let her fingers go through his hair. "It's as if I can see you both when I kiss you," she said as he smiled.

"I love you," he told her and Kyoko nodded in return.

"I love you too, so so much," she said before looking at him and committing this new form to memory. She wouldn't let them bully her when she went back to that law firm. She looked down, "Your phone number, you need to put it in here," she showed him and Takeshi nodded.

Kyoko looked down at the phone and raised an eyebrow at how he had put himself in 'Lawyer' "You owe me a profile picture for this," she teased him as Takeshi nodded and let her take a few pictures of him before they went off in their separate directions.

 **End Chapter Six**

 **AN2:** Thank you so much to the people who read, following, favorite, and review this fic. Special shout outs to: **Ashenvale, Guineapigs1, Kris, and kyoko minion** for their reviews of the previous chapter which led to this chapter coming out so fast 😊


	7. Ch7 - Dreams of Black and Brightest Red

**AN (1): Hope you guys enjoy this chapter** **Next week is midterms so I might not be able to write very much but I'm really enjoying writing again so thank you for that** **The last paragraph might preview some of the ideas I have for this fic…and yes I do know about how it actually works but the fairies don't**

 **Chapter Seven – Dreams of Black and Brightest Red**

Kyoko smiled as she looked over the twins as they slept. She had given birth to them quite young and married Kuon even younger. Still, the experiences she had had with her (late)-husband meant everything to her. She sat down on the rocking chair again and felt her arm brush against a hooded sweatshirt that he had left in here. She picked it up and put it to her face, smelling it.

Takeshi smelled different than Kuon. Takeshi's arms were different than Kuon's when he had held her. Still, that was her husband underneath it all and the only reason he was that way was because Kyoko had hurt him. Closing her eyes, Kyoko tried to get her body to relax and she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

She scrolled down to where Takeshi's name was and looked at the photo she had taken of him. He definitely looked like a fashion model, the fairies had made good work of that. He just…he didn't look like himself. She knew that she would get used to it. After all, having Kuon in her life at all was worth more than what he looked like. Without thinking about it, she pressed the phone button and put it up to her ear. She hoped that he really wasn't angry with her and he would pick up.

She calmly took deep breaths before hearing the new voice of the man she loves.

"Hey, I was thinking you'd call. Is anything wrong?" he asked her and Kyoko smiled as she thought about what he might be doing.

"I missed you," Kyoko whispered, "I still miss you. Are you okay by yourself? Dinner? You were able to make it okay? I know sometimes your cooking ability isn't gre—I mean, you're okay, aren't you?" she panicked before hearing his gentle laugh.

"I'm okay, the instructions you gave me were perfect. It turned out very well," he told her as she sighed in relief. "Are _you_ okay?"

Kyoko nodded quickly but then realized that he wouldn't be able to see her, "I'm…I just miss you," she repeated. "I miss you being here. I miss you holding me whilst I sleep. I really miss you," she repeated and heard Takeshi pause.

"I wish I was there with you," he said with a sigh, "I really do. I miss you and the children, I miss being their father but I think it's better if we live apart for the time being. I promise that if you come to the office tomorrow, I'll be happy to see you."

Kyoko felt tears in her eyes and tried to brush them away, she could tell by his awkward breath that he had heard her. "I…I don't think I can sleep not knowing if you're okay. What if someone breaks into your house? What if you're asleep – sometimes you're too heavy a sleeper and they could come in and break in and then you could get hurt. I don't want anything to happen to you," she said as she heard his sadness.

"Kyoko, I love you. I'm okay. I promise you that I'm okay, I'm not planning on doing anything reckless, princess. I don't think anyone will break in and I'll see you tomorrow," he repeated and Kyoko felt the tears in her eyes again as she wrapped her arms around herself. She could hear Kuon's pain on the other side of the call.

"I can see it," she told him, "I can see you getting sho-" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry that I didn't save you. I'm…I'm sorry," she whispered before hearing a pause and then Takeshi's voice

"Would my presence really help you?" he asked obviously having thought about it.

Kyoko froze, she didn't want him to turn away from her thinking that she was needy or over dependent, but she couldn't help but squeak out a "yes,"

She heard Takeshi pause again before he spoke, "Okay. I'll see what I can do. I have to get off the phone now, princess, but I love you. If nothing else, please hold onto the fact that I love you."

Kyoko tried to steady her breaths, "I love you too."

…..

…..

 _Ren had seen it. Everybody had seen it and everybody had said it had been because of jealousy that the reporter had crushed Kyoko in a celebrity profile. Lory was absolutely furious with it. Only a little bit of research however showed that the writer was a huge Ren fan. She had torn Kyoko down because Ren loved her._

 _It was Ren who wanted to find her and he had already resolved himself to break up with her if it would hurt less. He couldn't promise her that he would protect her from these articles in the future if he stayed with her, but he felt that he could if he stopped the relationship before too much was discussed about her._

 _Finally, Ren saw Kyoko curled up in a corner near the acting classrooms, "Hi," he said as he made his way over to her. He frowned as she didn't make a response and looked around. "I'm really sorry," he said guiltily. "I'm…Kyoko?" he asked_

 _Kyoko looked up at him and then took deep breaths, "I failed as your girlfriend," she said which caused Ren to stare at her in shock. He hadn't been expecting that._

…..

…..

Kyoko was holding tight to the hoody when she heard a gentle knock at the door and she stood up, tears covering her face and her body shaking. She nervously went to the door, grabbing a knife that she kept on a table in the hallway for emergencies. She looked through the peephole and then her body relaxed and she opened the different chains that she had put up for security purposes.

Once she had put down the knife and opened the door, she immediately wrapped her arms around Takeshi and started sobbing into his chest. "Please, please don't leave," she told him as he sighed and nodded. She saw that he was carrying a bag that seemed to have a lot of paperwork and some clothes in it. She pulled him into the apartment and clung to him again once the door was shut.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said as Takeshi let his fingers run through her hair. "I couldn't sleep knowing you were somewhere else," she said as she saw Takeshi smile at her weakly. "I'm sorry, I should have controlled myself more," Kyoko quickly apologized. "I just…if you hadn't been safe…"

"It's alright. I'm here now, I don't think that anyone noticed," he told her and Kyoko nodded. She kissed him a few times before hearing footsteps behind her. She flinched. Julie didn't know that this was really Kuon, what would she think to this strange new person being in the apartment.

"So," she heard a man's voice, "Now you believe me," he told Kyoko as she grabbed Takeshi's arm and turned back to see a sleepy Kuu standing there looking at his two children.

"We met up earlier tonight," Takeshi attempted to explain, "She just called me up and asked me to come over here."

"I can't sleep not knowing my husband is safe, Father" Kyoko tried to explain. "You only saw his body, I saw him die right in front of my eyes." She clung tighter to Takeshi's arm as he gave a guilty smile as Kuu looked at the two of them, watching them.

"I can't hear her in pain and not come running, I've never been able to," Takeshi attempted to explain as Kuu nodded with a weak smile.

"Okay, but you have to explain this to Julie," he told them. He smiled at his son, "It's always good to see you," he told him as Takeshi nodded.

"Thanks, Dad" he said before Kyoko pulled Takeshi to the bedroom and sat down on the bed with him, wrapping her arms around him tightly and breaking down into messy tears. She tried to steady her breaths as she felt Takeshi's hand on her back as he tried to calm her in the way he always did.

…..

…..

" _I'm sorry," Ren said very confused as he sat down next to his girlfriend. "What are you talking about? How do you think you failed?" he asked before looking into her eyes and trying to smile in an encouraging manner, "I, for one, have never felt that you've failed me."_

" _The papers, they talk about how I have no skill and that I'm not attractive and I'm just some boring plain woman who is using you for attention," Kyoko whispered and Ren hummed. He reached out to her and felt that that was enough for her to curl up close to him._

" _Do you know how much skill it takes to do the acting work that you've done? To play the role of Mio as your first drama and be remembered and talked about all over Japan. For Natsu to scare everyone such a short time into your acting career. For Momiji to still be talked about and the skills your learned there. Do you see how much work you've done so far?" he asked, "and do you think it takes much skill to write a bad review of somebody in what, two-hundred and fifty words. I think you have so much more skill than anyone out there and that most likely -"_

" _No," Kyoko said as she held his hand, "Don't say it. I don't want you to say those words," she told him as he blinked across from her. "Don't sell yourself short," she looked from side to side very quickly and whispered to him, "Don't sell yourself short, Kuon."_

 _Ren smiled and looked at her, "Kyoko, if this is too hard for you and for your career, it's okay."_

" _What's okay?" Kyoko blinked as she tilted her head to the side._

" _it's okay if you want to break up with me," he said as Kyoko shivered and shook her head quickly. "I would rather not, but I just want you to be happy." He saw Kyoko staring at him in complete shock. Tears quickly filled her eyes._

" _Please don't break up with me, please?" she asked him and looked down, "Only break up with me if you stop loving me. Don't do it to protect me, if you love me you'll fight with me," she said knowing she sounded like one of those silly girls, but it wasn't fair to judge her on that. Kuon made her one of those silly girls._

" _Well then please allow me to selfishly keep calling you my girlfriend," he told her and Kyoko shakily nodded. Despite what the media thought, she knew what was most important to her._

…..

…..

Kyoko took shaky breaths as she replayed what had happened in her head during her sleep. She could see the blood, see him limp and unresponsive body. She imagined the blood on her fingers as she desperately felt for a pulse and she could see his eyes which were open but without any movement. He couldn't be.

Kyoko woke up panting, tears in her eyes and she immediately pulled her knees to her chest. She placed her head down on them and sobbed as her whole body started to feel like that of a rag doll. She felt the tears in her eyes slide down onto her knees and then felt something next to her, a body.

She looked across and smiled as she saw Takeshi there, waking up and looking at her. She took deep and steady breaths as she saw him there beside her and nervously reached out to check his pulse rate and his breathing.

"Hey," Takeshi whispered as he looked up at her, not trying to move away from her hand because he had the feeling that she felt a need to touch him this way. "Are you -"

"You're alive," Kyoko whispered. "I mean, you're in a different body, you look different but you're you and you're here and you're alive," she said as he nodded. Kyoko settled down into the bed but wrapped her arms around Takeshi, placing her head on his strong chest. "Ku-on," she whispered as she closed her eyes.

Takeshi sighed, not wanting to tell her that she shouldn't be calling him Kuon anymore. He knew that she needed his comfort and support now more than ever. He let his eyes close as he fell asleep again and Kyoko watched him. She felt that he would lecture her about how she shouldn't call him Kuon, about how he was different, but she couldn't help it. He would always be _her_ _Kuon_.

That was the fairies thinking as well since there was something they hadn't told Takeshi before his return to earth. Whilst they had done an excellent job creating a body and a life for him, a world that he could live in. Fairies rarely changed people's DNA. Still, people rarely had DNA tests done at all.

 **End Chapter 7**

 **AN2: Yes, I do know how DNA works** **but again, the fairies don't and they can construct bodies without having to plug it in :P** Thank you to everyone who supports this story and a special shout out to my reviews of the previous chapter: **Ashenvale, Kris, and ktoll9**

 **I tried to stop myself from writing this but I am too addicted. Tomorrow I plan on working on 'The Little Prince' so that will be updated later in the week. Thank you all for your time.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Like a Younger Brother

**AN:** Hope you enjoy this chapter 😊 I think the next chapter is going to be a lot of fun to write as well so I hope you look forward to that too. Also, I had someone tell me I was hurting people with my writing and that I wasn't respectful and I was causing people pain. I've had a couple of people tell me this over the course of my writing and this is my message to you: I feel as long as I don't use it as a joke, I can write whatever I want but you can also read whatever you want. If my story is hurting you, please don't read it. I don't want you to hurt but I don't want to be guilted into changing my writing. 😊 Thank you for understanding.

 **Chapter Eight – Like a Younger Brother**

Takeshi grinned to himself as he looked at his phone where there were pictures of him and his twins. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately, he wasn't sure – he hadn't seen Julie that morning. However, these photos meant so much to him. He wanted to be able to go back and see his children, hold his son and press his daughter close to his chest. Maybe it was just a dream, but with Kyoko knowing who he was, he was much closer to that goal.

Takeshi looked through the paperwork for the Kuon Hizuri case again. He knew what these people looked like, but they had found various suspects and there were multiple security camera videos that he would have to look through. He wondered how it felt to watch yourself die after being shot. The words outer body experience didn't seem bold enough.

As he was circling some of the words on a copy of one of the witness testimonies, there was a beep from his phone line. He slid over to pick it up. Maybe it would be Kyoko, although he had told her that he'd appreciate her going into work and making sure that she did her job as best she could.

It seemed a little heartless to say that to a grieving widow despite being her husband.

He picked the phone up with a slight smile, "This is Takeshi," he said before hearing the woman at the front desk and held to the phone with a grin appearing on his face.

"Chiba-san, there's somebody here to see you in regards to the Kuon Hizuri case. You told us that it was impor—"

Takeshi nodded, "Sure, send her up," he said, his thoughts completely focused on Kyoko.

"It's actually a man, he seems angry," the woman told him as Takeshi frowned. Maybe it was a risky move doing this without finding out who he was. For all he knew it could be Shou Fuwa who was going to insult him – or rather Kuon.

"Send him up, I'll prepare myself," Takeshi said with a chuckle before putting the phone down.

He reached out for his desk drawer where there was a letter opener and then stood up, holding it to his side and walked out of the main room of his office to his waiting room. He didn't know who to expect. His body froze when he saw Yashiro Yukihito, trying to keep his composure but looking irritated as well. Takeshi's chest pulled in tightly and he prepared himself to deal with one of his closest friends.

…..

…..

 _Yashiro looked across at Ren as they sat waiting for Kyoko to finish her meeting with the president. The president was telling her that she had an opportunity of studying under a great acting coach who had specifically requested her. It was an amazing opportunity for her. However, it would mean a few weeks away from Ren and that was something that was scaring her._

 _Yashiro grinned, "You keep looking happier and happier, I hope you realize that."_

 _Ren turned to him and pointed at himself before smiling, "She makes me happy. I've never known a girl to be able to do that for me before, to boost my happiness level every time she says that she's my girlfriend."_

" _Maybe it's because you're finally starting to learn about love," Yashiro commented and Kuon grinned._

" _Most likely, we're both learning together but it's easier than I thought it would be. I thought before that all relationships required work and a special kind of knowledge. With Kyoko, I don't even have to try, my body works with hers automatically," Ren said before looking down. "Some days I do have to think about the best words to support her."_

 _Yashiro gave a teasing smile, "So your lectures and disapproval don't work as well anymore."_

 _Ren sighed, "I can give my point of view, but no, those don't work. However, she's more likely to come to me for help which means that I get to help her and talk to her more. It's a good trade off. Besides, when someone has accepted you as much as she has for me, you don't want to ever cause them to feel not good enough."_

 _Yashiro nodded, "You make a cute couple," he told him and Ren smiled at that. He really hoped that it was true._

…..

…..

"Hello," Takeshi said as he dropped into a small bow and then held his hand out to the man, "I'm Chiba Takeshi and you're –"

"Yu—"

"Yukihito Yashiro, I know," Takeshi said as he saw Yashiro shift uncomfortably, he hadn't been ready to get cut off like that. Takeshi nodded as he tried to commit himself to the role of the young lawyer. "I'm afraid that my papers aren't exactly in order this morning, but how can I help you?" he asked.

"This is about Kuon Hizuri," Yashiro said, using the Western format of the name, after all Kuon was – or had been – an American.

"I was guessing that," Takeshi chuckled, "I don't think I could have called you in as a character witness for one of my many other cases."

"You didn't call me in at all," Yashiro said bitterly, "It was the president of LME who finally was able to give me information about the lawyer who was working on Kuon's case."

"Ah," Takeshi nodded, "Maybe I didn't think your point of view was necessary since you weren't with Hizuri during his death," he froze as he saw the manager shudder and realized that he was wearing much more black than he ever had before.

"You might not be able to believe this," Yashiro said as he forced himself to maintain an icy calm once again, "but to me Kuon was like a younger brother. Of course, I need to see if you are actually making sure that he has justice for his murder."

"Biologically," Takeshi said trying not to show any flaws in his role, "The two of you were not related. I haven't seen anything in the paperwork that gives t—"

"So, to you, you can't feel a closeness to anyone unless there are blood relations?" Yashiro asked with a roll of his eyes, "You people are all the same, you give too much credit to what the formal way is. You don't seem to understand that not everything comes down to DNA."

"Did Hizuri feel the same about you?" Takeshi said as his Kuon side wanted to apologize to his manager. Over the years when he had been struggling with being Kuon, Yashiro had always been there for him even if it was just to go to a bar to help him take his mind off of things. Despite the negative press that Kuon had received in the beginning, Yashiro had always managed to turn it in a way to help his career. They had formed quite a strong friendship, but sometimes you had to let the important friendships fade _especially_ if you were in another body.

"Whether he did or did not isn't important right now," Yashiro said as he looked at the paperwork on the desk. "Kuon was the best man at my wedding, he has always helped me if I had a problem. We started off as just client and manager and then when he was ready, we became friends. I've felt as if he's family for a long time now and whether he wanted to believe that or not, I'm going to be here to make sure that the memory of him isn't abused."

 _He did feel that way, he does feel that way_. Takeshi thought to himself but instead adopted a bored expression. "Did you come here to make a report Yukihito-san?" he asked and Yashiro looked away.

"I'll make one if you feel it necessary, but I really came down to tell you that I know paperwork as well as any paralegal and if you do anything to harm my friend _especially_ now that he's deceased, I will show everyone just how much you lawyers care about the people that you're representing," Yashiro said darkly.

"I will do my best not to dishonor him in this case," Takeshi said with a smile which earned a haunting glare from the manager.

"It's not a joke," he whispered as Takeshi paused, Yashiro really did care about Kuon.

As the door was opened and Yashiro turned around to see the person who had come there, the two were surprised to see Kyoko. Takeshi quickly put a finger to his lips.

…..

…..

" _So, if I can ask, things are going alright between you and Kyoko?" Yashiro asked and Ren grinned before nodding. "So, do you have any plans to take her for a weekend away, a romantic trip, ask for some time off work because if it's for you and Kyoko I think I can swing it," Yashiro teased with a playful smile and Ren looked down._

" _I know it's still early in our relationship, we've only been going out for a couple of months now, but I think if she decides to take this trip, when she comes back I might ask her to marry me," Ren said as Yashiro looked at him shocked._

" _Even for someone who can get as reckless as you, isn't that a bit fast?" Yashiro asked surprised that Ren had switched on his relationship button to such high speed. Ren smiled and sighed._

" _It's been a longer time than you could imagine," he said thinking about when they were children. He wouldn't ask her yet, but he wanted to make her the princess she had always dreamed about being. He wanted her to be his princess and more than that, he wanted to be her prince._

…..

…..

"Yashiro," Kyoko said before she made sure to start crying and shaking and she walked into Yashiro's arms as he held her hoping to calm her down. "I didn't think you'd be here. Are you here to see Kuo—about Kuon's case too?" she asked sadly.

Yashiro nodded, "It wasn't anything huge if you two need to discuss the case, I just wanted to give my warning that I'm not going to tolerate anything that might create a black mark on Kuon's record. I want his representation to be honest and respectful."

"Oh, I think Chiba-san is good at that. He was a Kuon fan as well," she tried to tell Yashiro as she pulled back and then brought out a handkerchief to dab at her eyes.

"Well, I've got the paperwork set up and I was just going over a witness testimony," Takeshi told her. "I wanted to see if you agreed with what they said, get your input on it."

"Oh," Kyoko said softly and then nodded, she wrapped an arm around her chest. "I know that this will be painful for me, but if it's what would have helped Kuon," she said before looking down. "I miss him. I miss knowing that he'll be there to protect me."

"How about if I stay, Kyoko?" Yashiro asked as Takeshi's back stiffened and Kyoko's eyes widened for a split second. She had come to see her husband and _maybe_ discuss strategies on how to win the case, however if she had Yashiro here with her she knew that it would disturb the man if she suddenly started kissing Takeshi and telling him how much she loved him and how brave he was.

"Oh, I…" Kyoko said as she very quickly looked at the lawyer, "It's alright. The funeral is tomorrow and Chiba-san wanted to help, there are some …"

"If it's to do with the memorial service then I really would appreciate staying," Yashiro said as Kyoko looked down. "It feels wrong that we're not even able to give Kuon a proper funeral or burial, but I know that he'll appreciate the memorial."

"And…why aren't you allowed to give Kuon a funeral?" Takeshi asked, "Isn't that the same as a memorial."

"Kuon's body is seen to be evidence," Kyoko said quickly, "We're not allowed to bury it and therefore he can't be buried or burned."

"Maybe he'd prefer to be burned and his ashes scattered. I mean, it looks like he did travel around and being part of nature might be what is best for him," Takeshi said as Kyoko nodded.

Yashiro, however, was not as accepting and he stepped forward to face Takeshi face to face, "and what makes you think you know anything about the person that my friend was?" He asked, "I know that you're just doing this to make a name for yourself and money for your firm."

"That's not true," Kyoko said before putting a hand over her mouth.

"Then why?" Yashiro asked, "Why is he taking such an interest in someone so important to me and to you?" he asked as Kyoko didn't know what to say.

 **[End Chapter Eight]**

 **AN:** Hope you guys enjoyed it, this time I'm going to ask you guys whether you think he should tell Yashiro or not. I have my mind a certain way but I'm still partially on the fence 😊 Of course thank you to everyone who has supported this fic and special shout outs to: **Ashenvale, ladygraywolf, and paulagato**


	9. Chapter 9 - A Mother's Devotion

**AN:** So, I wasn't exactly planning on putting this chapter here but I think it works well. I do have to put a self harm trigger warning though it's not show it is mentioned. I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Nine – A Mother's Devotion**

Yashiro shifted uncomfortable as Takeshi looked down. He didn't know what to say to the two of them and he looked at Kyoko for help. Unfortunately, as he looked at her, he realized that Kyoko was attempting to follow his lead. That was what he needed to do next, find a lead.

With a deep breath in, Takeshi looked up at the manager and smiled, "Well, when someone has acted in as many movies as Kuon Hizuri, you feel like honoring their life and their abilities. I'm feeling a lot of respect towards Kuon," he told Yashiro and Yashiro looked away.

"Please call him Hizuri-san," he said, "I know that the public calls him Kuon, but please show some respect towards him. You didn't know him for the amazing person he was so I'm asking you to use some respect when you talk to me about him."

Takeshi paused and looked at Kyoko again. "Of course," he nodded as Kyoko looked at Yashiro not sure what to say. "When you say that you had a personal relationship with Hizuri-san…"

"I mean that I care about him as if he were an actual part of my family," Yashiro said. "Maybe if I was with him, I could have stopped the attack or reigned in his anger, made him give more focus and actually acknowledge the gun shot."

Takeshi flinched a little and laughed awkwardly, "I don't think you would have been able to do that," he told Yashiro who shrugged.

"Even if _I_ wasn't able to do that, I would have called the police earlier. I would have perhaps been able to get an EMT down to help him, maybe have an officer find the gun before they used it on him," Yashiro said as Kyoko looked at Takeshi not wanting to see the manager in pain any longer.

"There's nothing that you could have done," Kyoko told him, "Kuu said the same thing, Yashiro-san," she said weakly. "Kuon died beca—"

Takeshi looked down, "I'm …" he started before realizing that he was choking on air. The fairies had made it impossible for him to just say who he was in a straightforward way. He looked down and closed his eyes before hearing his phone ring. He froze, it was his cellphone and not his work phone. Aside from Kyoko and a message from his bank about his salary transfer finishing, he had never answered his cell phone before. Even more confusing was that it was Kuu's cell phone number.

"Could you excuse me for one moment?" he asked as Yashiro looked away with a sigh and Kyoko followed him with her eyes, confusion in them. "Hey, sorry this mi-"

There was silence as Takeshi shivered and his back straightened, "Mom?"

…..

….

 _It was one week before Kyoko's international work was to begin and Ren wanted to make the most of it with her. Together they had gone looking for clothes and luggage and other items that she might need. Kyoko had had to tell Ren more than once that she wanted to buy things for herself and the couple had come to the agreement that Ren would buy her the luggage and she was going to buy everything to go inside the luggage._

 _It was a good arrangement for both of them._

 _At this moment the two of them were in a bookstore in a VIP area of Tokyo – Ren had still been asked six times for his autograph and Kyoko two – and Kyoko was looking over the map books. She paused when she heard Ren's cell phone and glanced at him as he checked the number._

" _It's the president," he told her as Kyoko nodded and Ren stepped back to take the call._

" _Ren. Are you busy at the moment?" he asked as Ren looked around._

" _I'm spending some time with Kyoko," he said before hearing some laughter in the background that sounded strangely familiar. "Why?"_

" _Kinky time?" Lory asked and Ren's eyes widened._

" _Not like that, no. Is there a reason that you're interested in my time right now?" he asked trying to prepare himself to tackle whatever the president had planned._

" _I was hoping that you'd have time to come and see an international model and actress that is refusing to stop trying to do feng shui in my office," Lory said as Ren choked on a laugh. He paused before hearing an excited woman on the other end._

" _Is that my Kuon!? I'm going to charge you with the crime of not allowing me to talk to my son along with the rest of your kidna-"_

" _Wow," Ren said before looking at Kyoko, "I think I might be able to come over. So, she finally found a reason to come to Japan," he grinned nervously._

" _A reason to try to redecorate my office is more like it. I'd prefer if you came here instead of having to call security."_

" _Alright, if I can bring Kyoko," he said before getting off the phone. He looked at Kyoko who was watching him curiously. "Are you interested in meeting my mother?" he asked as Kyoko's grin spread over her cheeks. She had wanted to meet Julie for a long time._

….

….

Kyoko looked at Takeshi as he seemed to get swallowed up by the ground beneath him. She wasn't sure what the conversation was about, but she could tell that he was crying and when he dropped to the floor, she went over to him.

To Yashiro's astonishment, Kyoko was at the lawyer's side and was rubbing his back in the way that she had only done for Kuon. Yashiro wasn't sure how to feel. He wasn't sure whether to think that Kyoko had been cheating on Kuon, she couldn't have been cheating on Kuon, right? He saw her kiss the back of his head and then heard her whisper to him.

"My sweet Corn, what is it?" she asked and Yashiro looked at them not sure what to think. Kyoko only used the word Corn with one person, she _would only_ use the word Corn with that one person.

"I understand, I'll—I'll tell Kyoko. I'll take her down there," he said as Yashiro looked at the two of them completely stunned. "Thanks, Dad" Takeshi said and Kyoko pulled back, kneeling beside him.

"What is it?" she asked, "That was Kuu, right?" she asked as he nodded.

"I need you to go down to the hospital," Takeshi told her as Yashiro watched them. This couldn't be Kuon, right? No. Kuon was dead. He had seen his body. He had no idea what this was or what the connection with Kuu was. Yashiro stood still as he replayed the mannerisms and body language that was just like Kuon's. Even after reviewing tapes, a lawyer wouldn't start using those movements and characteristics.

"Alright." Kyoko nodded, "but why? Did something happen? Your mom didn't get into an accident, did she?" she asked ignoring the fact that Yashiro was witness to all of this.

"Apparently Dad found her after she had overdosed on pain killers. I didn't think she'd do something like that. I thought she'd be depressed but I never thought that she would kill herself to…" he hung his head. "If only I had spoken to her this morning," he told her as Kyoko bit her lip to hide her sobs.

"She'll be okay. That fact that Father found her in time means that she'll be okay," Kyoko said as she rubbed his shoulder. "You can't bla—"

"She did it because she didn't want me to be alone and I couldn't even tell her," Takeshi said. "They want to see you," he told Kyoko. "Just please make sure that she's okay. Make sure that the twins and Dad are okay? Please?" he begged her and Kyoko wrapped her arms around him trying to make sure that _he_ was okay before she left.

"I will, I'll phone you as soon as I know," she told him before they both looked at Yashiro who looked in shock. "Yashiro-san would you mind taking me. I promise that Ku-" Kyoko felt her throat stick and then looked down, "My husband and I will tell you what is going on but could you please drive me to the hospital?" she asked as Yashiro nodded slowly not sure how to compute this information.

…

…..

" _Julie," Lory said in an exhausted manner as he watched the woman seem to float around the room, "There's a reason why the plants are by the window. I like to -"_

" _I like to have my fifteen-year-old asleep in his own bed, we learn to live with change," Julie said before there were footsteps of people entering the room and Lory's eyes widened as he saw one of his plants get knocked._

" _I really hope that wasn't expensive" Kyoko panicked dropping down to save the plant and Ren laughed weakly and shook his head._

" _Who ever thought about putting a plant directly in front of a do-" before he could finish what he was saying, he had a blonde woman with her arms wrapped around him and tears in her eyes. "Hi, it's…it's been a long time, hasn't it?"_

" _It's been too long," Julie said stubbornly as she kept her arms around him, "Hi, darling," she smiled as he looked at her with guilt in his eyes. She placed a hand tenderly on his cheek, "None of that sadness now, okay? I get to see my one and only very precious son although I think you should change your hair and eye color."_

" _I'm not ready to tell Japan who I am, but I thought I should come and help the president –"_

"— _the kidnapper," Julie tried to correct him._

 _Ren laughed, "Sure, the kidnapper from you destroying his office," he said as she wrapped her arms around him again._

" _You're too tall," she told him as Ren turned to Kyoko weakly._

" _Mother, I'd like for you to meet my girlfriend, Kyoko Mogami," he said as Kyoko bowed, "and Kyoko this is my mother, Juliena Hizuri."_

 _Kyoko bowed deeply, "It's really nice to meet you," she smiled, "I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time."_

" _It's an honor," Julie smiled. "Maybe you can help me get Kuon back to America," she said as Kyoko laughed and looked at Ren with a wide grin._

…..

…..

It was early evening whilst Takeshi sat outside the hospital, or rather he sat at the side of the hospital feeling just like a little kid. When he was small, there would be times when his mother or his father were away and to keep him from missing them too badly, the other parent would make up a game for them to play together or some kind of activity that would be a bonding experience.

Yes, Kuon had had babysitters and private nannies at times, but he had really enjoyed that his parents would make sure to shave a few hours off here and there just so they could spend some time in the other's absence. With his mother, Kuon would often talk to her about how he wanted to act like his dad, sometimes even ignoring that she was an actress do, and so they would tell each other stories one sentence at a time.

Sometimes, when Kuon was sick, his mother would make it into a word game so that he could keep his mind active. It wasn't like playing superheroes or living in a cave, but it was fun. Learning acting techniques and story telling techniques from his mother made the days go by faster. His dad would be more active but his mother was always more into thinking on a deeper level.

When he had left all those years ago, it had broken her heart.

However, the difference between her actions then and her actions now was that now she didn't know that he was alive and she thought she had lost him. She felt guilty over it, felt that those long years without her son were going to repeat and she would never be able to find him. Kuon – Takeshi hadn't told her that he was there where she could see him, he hadn't told her who he was and now he wasn't allowed in the room to be with her.

He could hear the media talking about her and hated that he couldn't even stop them from focusing on his mother. He had heard whispers that she was alright, but in the body he was now, all he could hear were whispers. "I'm so sorry," he whispered with his eyes closed before feeling somebody sit down next to him.

He nervously opened his eyes to see his father there at his side. "I'm sor-ry, Dad" Takeshi whispered.

"The doctors are saying that she'll be alright. They want to keep her here for observation since it's policy," he looked down, "I'm glad that I found her when I did, that I was able to get rid of -" he saw Takeshi's pain increase. "This isn't your fault, you didn't shoot yourself."

"If it wasn't for me she wouldn't be here," Takeshi said sadly, "If I hadn't left when I was fifteen," he looked down with a firm nod. "Dad, if she doesn't get better can you promise me something?" he asked as Kuu looked at him not saying anything. "If she doesn't get better promise me that you won't forgive me, because I know that I will never forgive myself."

 **End Chapter Nine**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who supports this fic. Special shout out to: **Ashenvale, Guest, Kris, and paulagato** for reviewing the previous chapter 😊 


	10. Chapter 10 - Family Law

**AN:** I hope you enjoy this chapter 😊 The next one is going to be a bit different but I hope you enjoy this one 😊

 **Chapter Ten – Family Law**

Julie looked across silently at Takeshi as he awkwardly entered the room. She had been told that because of what had happened, the hospital needed to keep her under watch and so she couldn't go to the memorial service. It seemed much more painful to not be able to say a proper goodbye to her son. However, they had left her with a lawyer that she didn't know. She had no idea why this man was here.

"I'll be fine on my own," Julie said stubbornly, "or are you going to give your legal understanding on restraining a patient and forcing her to wear a straightjacket. You do know that you are taking me away from my only child. You are keeping a _mother_ from her child."

"Only physically," Takeshi said as Julie frowned and looked away.

"You have no idea what a mother feels when their baby has to go away," she pouted. "You don't understand that Kuon is my baby, I was responsible for him and he died. I want to get back at whoever killed him and I don't mean through the legal profession."

"And overdosing on pills is the way to do that?" Takeshi asked as he took a seat opposite her.

"You don't seem to understand that right now my son is alone," Julie argued, "He was murdered and he's alone. I want to be with him."

"Well then it's a good thing that I'm sitting in the room with you," Takeshi said before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in, "May I tell you about my own mother, Hizuri-san?" he asked as Julie rolled her eyes in an immature manner.

"You actually had a mother? With the way that you've been acting -"

"My mother is an actress and a model," Takeshi said as he looked at her. "She is half Russian and half American and one-hundred percent beautiful. When I was small, my mother let me make up stories with her. There was one story that she liked the most which was about the fairy kingdom," he said as Julie closed her eyes. "We made that one up together when my father was on a location shoot in London and we couldn't go with him. We talked all about how the fairies ruled the kingdom and we made up different words for them based off of Greek mythology."

Julie turned towards Takeshi trying to listen to him. How did someone she never met share such a similarity with her son.

"Unfortunately, we didn't all have fun and games, I ended up breaking my mother's heart quite badly. When I was fifteen years old, I saw my friend die, his name was Rick. I couldn't breathe and so I left America with someone my mother would call a kidnapper for a long time. When I was twenty, my father came to Japan and asked me to record a video message because my mother had told him she only had three months to live," he said as Julie stared at him in shock.

"I don't know if I can remember the words perfectly, but I think it went something like "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for both of your deep love. If I call you be the names I used when I was little, my strained nerves might snap. So, I still can't call you that, but I will return to you t-"

Julie put a hand over her mouth and started shaking, cutting him off, "Kuon?" she asked as she looked over his body. "H-How?"

"Fairy magic," Takeshi said with a weak smile. "I just needed to tell you. I can't believe that I hurt you," he said as he wrapped his arms around himself. "I'm so sorry, Mom." Julie reached out for his hand and he came closer to her, so close that she could pull him into a loving embrace.

"I'm so glad you're here," she told him, "No matter who you have to be."

"I'm glad that you're here," Takeshi told her in reply.

….

" _So," Lory said as Ren took a seat in his office, "I've heard it said that you're looking very comfortable with Kyoko these days and that people are looking forward to your reaction when she finally gets back," he told Ren as the actor looked at the floor. "So, are you going to let me in on the romance about how Kyoko makes you feel, Ren."_

 _Ren looked down. He could tell that the president was trying to get some answers out of him and maybe he'd say something. Still, he had to pick the best moment to react._

" _I think the best thing about being with Kyoko is that I don't feel alone anymore," Ren said before looking away. "It's only when you've been with someone who you care about that much that you realize how lonely it all was before you started to be with her."_

" _And so you miss her now?" Lory inquired, "Somewhat possessively? Waiting for her to get back here?"_

 _Ren laughed, "Not quite. I know that she's still here and I know that she's thinking of me in the same way that I think about her. I know that if something was wrong for me, she'd want to be by my side because I reciprocate that emotion. I'm happy that she's doing so well professionally and when it's time I'll welcome her home with open arms."_

 _Lory laughed a bit as he saw the way Ren's face was so calm as he reflected on his time with Kyoko. "Well, I think I'd give you an A+ on your acting abilities when it comes to love," he said and Ren shook his head._

" _It's not an act," he smiled. "I've finally met someone who means more to me than anything else in the world."_

…..

"I hear that they are showing the Kuon Hizuri memorial on the TV, did you want to see it?" Takeshi asked Julie as he sat in the seat beside her. He was trying his hardest not to show any guilt that would come from watching it himself.

Julie studied him and looked away, "I'll watch it later. I'm not going to –"

"If you want to see it live I can definitely put it on," he said as Julie looked down.

"I can't do that to you," she told him. "I can see how much you're hurting already. I don't want you to see the sadness that people can have," she reached out for his hand. "I want you to be happy. I don't want you to feel any pain over what happened anymore."

"It's your choice," Takeshi argued, "Remember, I'm just your legal counsel right now…"

"No, you're my child," Julie argued, "and you're holding onto too much guilt. You were trying to protect your wife and the mother to your children. You shouldn't feel guilty about that. You're trying to live a new life and in a new body and I refuse to feed your guilt. I'll watch it later when I'm off of suicide watch."

"I'm really sorry about that," Takeshi said and Julie raised an eyebrow.

"If you keep apologizing, I may have to increase the amount that I'm paying you," Julie told him as Takeshi smiled.

"Please don't do that, your husband has already refused my working pro bono," he sighed as Julie smiled stubbornly.

"I'm glad to hear that because I think you should get paid even more than you are charging for your rates," she said before a nurse walked in and Takeshi looked down trying to look like a respectful lawyer and not a son arguing with his mother.

"Hizuri-san," the nurse said, "Although we usually tend not to allow patients in your position to watch the TV, in this case we wanted to allow you to see your son's memorial," she said as Takeshi looked down. Kuon, inside of this body, felt his heart beat painfully but he nodded trying to stay with character.

"I agree. Exposure to the events around Hizuri Kuon can only benefit our side of the case by giving honest emotions. I suggest that you watch it as any good mother would wish to do." Takeshi saw Julie shoot him a quick glare as the nurse went and set up the TV where it was showing a countdown to the TV coverage.

"Please don't make the hospital regret this," the nurse said and Julie opened her mouth to say something but the words didn't come out. Instead she reached for Takeshi's hand and gave a sigh of relief when she found him holding hers.

…..

 _Kyoko looked around nervously as she came out of the arrivals gate at Narita Airport. The president had told her that there would be someone waiting for her and she was to be driven home by him. With how busy Ren's schedule always was, Kyoko was thinking that it was either a driver that the president had set up for her or Yashiro. She wheeled her baggage out before spotting a tall man with cameras taking pictures of him._

 _He had a wide grin on his face and Kyoko couldn't help but laugh as she ran over to her boyfriend. "Hey!" she said as she put her bags beside him and felt his arms wrap around her. She grinned as she let her head rest atop his chest. "I missed you so much, Ren" she told him with a happy smile._

" _Welcome home," Ren smiled as he placed a hand on the back of her head and kissed the top of it. "I'll have to say that I missed you too. I'm glad that you're home and I hope you didn't cause any trouble when you were away," he told her in a teasing manner._

 _Kyoko grinned up at him, "You'll have to hear me tell you all about that later," she smiled to him as Ren thought about his surprise question that he wanted to ask her._

…...

Lory Takarada had been asked if he could host this memorial. Whilst he was usually fun and energetic in front of the crow, this was different. He would have to announce the death of a little boy that he had watched grow up. He could still remember when Kuu handed him the infant Kuon who waved his arms around and attempted to clap his hands.

He could remember how proud Kuu was when they told him that Kuon had said his first words, taken his first steps, and a lot of other firsts. There would be no more firsts. Kuon Hizuri had been murdered and now all of Japan had a feel of what his loss actually meant. Lory usually dressed in the most extravagant outfits, but as he stood looking out at the crowd on this day, the black suit and grey shirt that he wore looked even more sorrowful.

"Kuon was one of LMEs finest actors. He was truly a visionary in his skill as an actor, model, and performer. He worked harder than most and wasn't afraid to explore new territory in the acting field. He studied and perfected his craft. Nobody would argue that he was a pedigree actor and he earned all of the attention that he got for his craft. More than that, he was a loyal and kind person with a generosity of spirit and a kind, open heart. The loss of such an individual as Kuon is not something that we will get over easily, but it is something that we must do so."

Lory took a few deep breaths and then steadied himself, "In honor of Kuon, we have a few people to speak about his character and his life. The first one being Hizuri Kuu, one of my personal friends and a father to this amazing man. Kuu," Lory said as Kuu stood. "I'll leave it to you."

Kuu froze as he went to the microphone. Despite it being a somewhat closed event, the media had been able to buy its way in and now everyone was waiting with great anticipation on what he was to say. Fortunately for Kuu, his acting skills made it easy to create a reality different than the current. Nobody would think there was any chance for Kuon still being alive.

"I…" Kuu trembled as he looked at the cameras and then looked down, "I…" he stared at his hand and then closed his eyes. "My son is…my son w—w-was -"

 **End Chapter Ten**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who supports this fanfic. Special shout out to reviewers of the previous chapter: Ashenvale, Guest, Kris, and PaulaGaTo


	11. Chapter 11 - magic moments

**AN:** Thank you for your support. Just a heads up, there's a lot of emotion in this chapter and also some plot development, hope you enjoy 😊

 **Chapter Eleven :: Magic Moments**

Julie reached out for Takeshi's hand as she saw her husband with pain in his eyes. She knew that he was a terrific actor and he had only developed his craft even more as he had grown older and that's why it seemed so real. It appeared real because of the way that she could see her son's name with RIP next to it. It wasn't really a memorial for his death despite most of Japan thinking that.

She looked into Takeshi's eyes and saw the pain that made her want to shut off the whole thing. She wanted to pull him back into a reality that he felt comfortable being in. However, she had brought up a son who knew how to be stubborn and how to assert his independence and how to help others and he actually thought she wanted to see this.

…..

…..

" _This is the first restaurant you took me to," Kyoko smiled as she looked around the private room at the elegant restaurant that Kuon had taken her to on one of their first dates. He blinked hard at her and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, Einstein, this is the first restaurant that you took me to when we started dating."_

" _Ah," Kuon nodded as he saw a waiter bring over champagne in a pink champagne glass that was covered with gems and butterflies and other very detailed and very expensive decorations. Kyoko stared at the glass, turning it so that she could study it._

 _Without her knowing it, the doors were closed and it was just the two of them in the room._

" _Oh my gosh, this is so adorable," she smiled as she held the glass in her hand. "This is exactly what fair-" Kyoko felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked up from the glass and over at her boyfriend. She made sure to quickly place the glass down and blushed._

 _Kuon was right in front of her, down on one knee with a small black velvet box in his hand._

…..

…..

"My son was a truly amazing indivi-vidual" Kuu said as he faced the crowds with a deep level of pain flowing through his whole body. Even Kyoko would have been taken in by it had she not known the truth. "He was a skilled actor but more than that he was a skilled human being. I know that he would try to help others because that's who he was. He didn't want to see others lose sight of their dreams and with a lot of wanting to help comes a lot of hardship too. We all know that my son has carried around a lot of heartache, a lot of pain, and if he wa-wasn't a husband and fa-father he…" Kuu shook. He looked up at Lory who seemed to be scrutinizing him more than showing his concern. Maybe he should start crying.

Feeling the actors tears in his eyes, Kuu continued with his eulogy. "My son was a shi-shining star who I tho-thought would live much longer than he did. Ku-Kuon left such a big place in this world and he was my son," he whispered. "I…I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry," he said as he checked on Lory again who had started to focus on him. "I…well I just want to say that I miss my son. I miss my little boy and…and I…" he looked down and closed his eyes. "I love you, Kuon. I'll remember you and I'll make sure that everyone keeps you safe no matter what it might cost me."

With that Kuu walked off the stage and passed Kyoko. He touched her upper arm and whispered to her in a way that nobody else could have heard, "Was that alright? Did that meet their expectations?"

"I think it passed expectations, Father, or are you referring more to the make them think Kuon is dead angle?" she looked away before gazing at her twins. She would have a hard time explaining this to them. She didn't know whether to explain to them that Takeshi was their father and that he was Kuon or let them make the inferences themselves.

It was too early for this. Stepping up to the stage Kyoko felt her breath catch in her throat and she wrapped an arm around herself. She couldn't be up here talking about him like this. She couldn't picture him as dead.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she rushed off the stage. She found a Bluetooth earpiece and her phone. It was a high-tech model and one that looked like it was invisible, it was perfect to give her support giving this speech because this speech was one that she never ever wanted to deliver.

She connected it to her phone and called Takeshi, begging him to pick up.

…

…

" _Kuon?" Kyoko asked not knowing how to stop the fear and excitement all brewing up within her at the same time. She saw him smiling at her and she couldn't help but feel the power of that shine._

" _Kyoko, you are without a doubt the most amazing woman that I have ever met. Every day that I've known you has brought me such happiness even if you only saw me as a god of the acting world. Every time I think about you I think of all your kindness, all of your warmth and I think of how lucky I am that you've chosen me to be your boyfriend. Tonight, I'd like to ask you if you will become my fiancée, my future wife. I want to ask you if you can accept me as your husband. I want to ask if you are excited to share the rest of our lives together. I will never stop you from walking out into the sunshine. I will never ask you to do anything that you don't feel comfortable with, but I am asking you this now. Kyoko Mogami, will you do the honor of marrying me and becoming my wife?"_

 _Kuon looked at her with such love that Kyoko was thinking of whether or not this was a dream. If it was a dream then it was a wonderful one she didn't want to wake up from._

…..

….

Julie looked over at Takeshi as he had just turned on his phone to call Kyoko after he had seen her run off stage. "The doctors might have a problem with you doing that," she commented with a smile, hoping to give him a heads up that he might get caught. "Do you want me to switch off…"

"It's Kyoko," Takeshi told her, "She's calling me and she needs help. I'd be willing to step outside."

"Then who is going to be looking out for you?" Julie asked him. She sighed as she saw the way he pressed the answer button on his phone. She wanted to get him his old body back but she knew that she'd have to make do with this body being her son and not the one with a gunshot wound.

"Hey," Takeshi said in a calm manner as he held onto his phone, "Kyoko? Is something wrong?" he asked and heard Kyoko sob.

"Can you be in my ear?" she asked as Takeshi paused not hearing her correctly.

"No, and is this really the time to be asking me that?" he asked before looking down as he heard her sob. "I'm sorry, maybe you could explain to me what you meant?" he asked. He didn't want to talk about kinky sex play but he didn't want her to be unhappy either. He had built his life around her and it had ended that way, he didn't want to lose her in this new life either.

"I mean, can I put you in my ear whilst I'm talking so you can encourage me and keep me motivated, please? I can't talk about your death without knowing that you're alive. I'm not that strong," Kyoko seemed to beg and Takeshi sighed.

"Sure, keep me in your ear," he said. "I love you, you know that right? All of this is just for show. I love you."

Kyoko sighed, "I love you too. I don't think I could have gotten through any of this if it had been real, thank you." Kyoko said before she reached the stage. "I'm sorry for running off like that, I'm here and I'm ready to talk about my amazing husband."

…

…..

" _Yes, of course I will," Kyoko laughed as she saw the ring. It looked like a butterfly but it had mostly blue gems apart from two which were a burnt sienna. She covered her mouth with her other hand as Kuon slipped the ring onto her finger._

" _Thank you, Kyoko" Kuon said as Kyoko wrapped her arms around him._

 _She had finally found her prince, the one that she was meant to end up with._

…..

…..

Kyoko took a deep breath in before trying to think of how she had physically lost her husband because he had become somebody else. She thought about his arms and how they would wrap around her. She thought of the time in Karuizawa when she had held him so tight because she had been so afraid. She thought about when Setsu and Cain had held one another in front of the president and he had been able to tell that the two of them were in love.

As she reflected on memories that would never look the same again, she felt the tears in her eyes and she could reach forward to grab the microphone, "I'm not going to tell you how I loved Kuon and how Kuon was my everything because even though there are those of you who think this is the correct way of accepting death. I still believe that Kuon is watching me and making sure that I'm alright."

Takeshi smiled as he sat in front of the TV to watch Kyoko deliver this speech filled with how much she loves him. "Good girl," he whispered in a low voice, "I think they're receiving it well."

"Kuon has always held a presence in my life. We met as childhood friends and he showed me a world of magic and gave me the ability to believe in my dreams and conquer my sadness. It was only because of Kuon that I was able to overcome so many of my hurdles. Even if he wasn't physically there, my husband is always supporting me and making sure that I'm okay. He's who I have to rely on for those painful memories."

Kyoko shivered and she tapped her fingers three times before looking back at the camera and taking a deep breath.

"I love you, remember that," Takeshi said as he took in the sign to say that, "I love you."

"Kuon is such a special person and I think that that specialness has helped every single one of his coworkers, colleagues, relatives, and friends. We are all doing better today because of Kuon and I just need for -"

Takeshi started coughing and Julie's eyes widened as she turned to him. She pushed herself out of the bed, slamming her thumb against the call button.

"need for his memory to be…be remembered" Kyoko said as she put a hand to her ear. "Are you okay?" she whispered low enough for the mics not to catch her. However, she didn't know that whilst she was mouthing that the studio was making them detect more sound.

"I am really going to…I'm really thankful for my husband and the fact that he gave his -"

"It hurts," Takeshi said in a weak voice as he lay on the floor with one noticeable change in his appearance. "It's hurting…breathing, I can't breathe."

"You have to try," Kyoko whispered as tears slipped down her cheeks, she was attempting to whisper not knowing that by this point everyone could hear what she was saying. "My sweet Corn, please try. Please?" she begged. "I can't lose you twice, you can't die on me again."

Kyoko fell apart as she heard the line go dead on the other side, she didn't know what had happened but she did have the last question that a doctor had said floating around in her mind.

"Wasn't this guy a brunette just a moment ago?"

 **[End Chapter 11]**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who supports this fic, it really does mean a lot to me. Special shout out to reviewers of chapter 10: Ashenvale, kyoko minion, and paulagato


	12. Chapter 12 - I love you, Kuon

**AN:** Thank you for reading. I hope you're enjoying this 😊 Today was a good day for me because I managed to get my hands on Skip Beat volume 34 and 37 in Japanese but unfortunately not 40. I want many many more Skip Beat books but more than anything I want for there to be some progression in the Kyoko finding out truth about Ren/Kuon/Corn storyline (been waiting for like six years now)

 **Chapter Twelve – I Love You, Kuon**

She had to be with him. She at least had to make sure that he was okay. As she hid behind the podium, feeling her breath catch in her throat and her heart beat weakly, she noticed that on one side Kuu was rushing towards her and on the other side Lory was. Both of them were concerned about her, but she was concerned for him.

"Kyoko," Kuu said as he got to her first, "What happened? What's -"

Kyoko didn't say anything, she just flung her arms around her father-in-law and sobbed against his chest. Since Kuu knew this wasn't over the death of Kuon, he didn't know what to say. If the president hadn't been there he would have asked if something had happened to Takeshi, but he didn't think that anyone other than family knew.

"I want to go to the hospital," Kyoko said before looking at the president who was looking skeptically between them. She looked down, "Something's happened," she said as Kuu looked at Lory as well.

"Did Kuon come back to life?" he asked them as Kuu paled and Kyoko tried to laugh it off despite how much pain she was going through.

"Why would you think that, Boss?" Kuu asked trying to go for a look of confusion.

Lory looked at Kuu as if he were an idiot, "You do remember that I have a trove of romance games, there have been some that have had ghosts in them as well," he tried to remind his friend as Kuu smiled weakly before looking at Kyoko.

"If you're so -"

"Go," Lory said as he tried to wave them off, "I'll come up with some excuse if you want to take her to the hospital. Maybe a panic attack," he said, "caused by lack of sleep. Just tell Kuon that I want to see him as soon as he's ready to see me."

"Takeshi Chiba," Kuu said as he handed Lory one of the spare business cards that he had taken.

Lory looked at it and nodded. "I'll make sure that the front desk knows to contact me if a Takeshi Chiba comes to LME." He looked at Kyoko and then nodded, "I'll do my best to come up with a reason that will not influence public opinion," he told her and Kuu helped her up before they headed off to his car.

…

…..

" _So," Kuon said as he got into their apartment. "You told me that, if I remember correctly, you didn't want to be rude and speak out of line but there were some things that I needed to agree to before we get married?" he asked and Kyoko smiled._

" _Yes, well there are some -" Kyoko started pacing and Kuon watched her. "I'm still on the fence about having children," she told him as he nodded. "I don't know if I want them or not," she continued, "Maybe I do but maybe I don't."_

" _Alright," Kuon smiled, "We can talk about that. We shouldn't be having kids so quickly anyway."_

" _Yeah, and…and even if we don't have kids then you have to do housework. It's not just -"_

" _Don't I do that already?" Kuon asked as he cut her off. "When I asked you to move in with me you told me that you would move out if I didn't do my fair share so we've been splitting the cleaning and other tasks and you just won't let me cook because you say I have terrible cooking skills."_

" _You have terrible grocery shopping skills as well," Kyoko laughed. "Okay, but there's one big thing that only you can do," she said before taking a deep breath, "I don't want to marry Tsuruga Ren, I want to marry Hizuri Kuon."_

…

…..

"I will repeat that we cannot let people see patients unless they are family members," the doctor said and Kyoko raised an eyebrow before looking at Kuu who was taking care of the twins in the waiting room.

"There's nobody else there with him, is there? He's the lawyer who has been working on my husband's case. He was with my mother-in-law when he collapsed. I feel that I should at least find out if he's -" Kyoko paused as she observed the disapproving stare that the woman had towards her.

"You know, you can hardly go anywhere without hearing the name Hizuri," Kuu said as the woman looked at her. "It's all over the world now. I mean, not just my work but my son's, my wife's, my daughter's…all of us are or were known under the name Hizuri. It's a little hard to shake. Sometimes I won't like the food at a restaurant and won't come back there and it'll get spread around that the guy who loves to eat doesn't like that place. Of course, as long as people are working hard and giving their best, we should encourage them to keep motivated on improving, but yeah…even restaurants are impacted by the name Hizuri."

"Father," Kyoko said as she looked at him confused, "Did your brain boil up in the heat? What are you saying this -"

"Hospitals too," Kuu said as he picked Rikuu up in his arms before he started crying. "I mean, you do need them in emergencies and they do have to provide care to patients, but a Hizuri being turned away by a hospital especially the wife of my deceased son on the day of his memorial." Kuu frowned, sharpening his glare, "Do you think that my daughter would be here on the day of my son's memorial were it not important that she see Chiba-san?"

The woman at the front desk sighed, "Fine, but I don't think you're going to get your answers from him," she said. "I'll ask a doctor to check in fifteen minutes," she said as Kyoko smiled in relief.

The woman gave her the room number and Kyoko quickly made her way to it. She knocked on the door to get no response and then opened it very slowly. As she looked in the room she saw Takeshi unconscious on the bed, his once brown hair was now the same blond that Kuon's had been. She walked over to him and reached out to touch his hair.

That wasn't normal.

…

…

 _Kuon stared straight ahead without saying anything for a few minutes as Kyoko hovered around. Maybe this was too hard for him? Had she asked for something that would make it so that he wouldn't want to marry her? She froze before seeing him look up._

" _Yeah, okay," he nodded with a blank look as Kyoko felt herself shift nervously. She would have preferred an emotion to latch onto that would tell her how he really felt. "Okay, that makes sense but does it -"_

" _How about you do it on your own time," Kyoko said as Kuon nodded. Kyoko walked over to him and knelt in front of him. "You know, what I've come to learn about Kuon especially the parts that you don't know you're showing, I really like him." She smiled to her fiancé. "In fact, I love him with my whole heart," she smiled, "otherwise I wouldn't want to marry him."_

" _So," Kuon laughed weakly, "You didn't want to marry Ren Tsuruga?"_

" _Well aren't they both two sides of you?" Kyoko asked as she tilted her head to the side, "I know that there are parts of me in Natsu and parts of me in the other characters I've played including Setsu, but you've lived as Ren so long that he's more than just a character," Kyoko grinned. "Do you remember that I've seen you without your contacts in, with your defenses lowered? I've never stopped loving you and I know the common ground between the two of you."_

" _I love you, Kuon."_

…..

…..

Kyoko reached out and took his hand, holding it in her own. She knew that it looked strange for her to be here, but she didn't want to move. She watched Takeshi with her mind filling with questions over what had happened. Every so often, she would reach out and let her fingers run through the blond strands before looking back at the unconscious body. "Corn," she whispered, "You have to wake up now," she said as she squeezed his hand. "Please, there's a lot that we have to do. There's a lot that we have to achieve together but we won't be able to do a thing if you're not awake."

Kyoko let her fingers slip down his cheek. "Please,"

She heard someone approach the door and she tensed. They had said that she would have more time with him. Why would they try and change all of that? She brought his hand up to his lips, "I love you so much, you have to come back to me."

"Your husband always looks better as a blond, it seems my team made a mistake on that," the woman said as she stood there in a blouse and skirt. Kyoko stared at her but then turned her attention to Kuon once again.

"I…" she looked down, "My husband died," she finally said as she brushed a few strands of blond hair out of his face. "Come on, Corn," she whispered in a voice she didn't think the woman could hear.

"I am very much aware that your husband was murdered. However, the fairy council can influence and restart life and we do this out of our gratitude for our believers, believers like you," the fairy smiled as Kyoko looked down.

"I wouldn't really believe in them as much if it wasn't for him." Kyoko smiled, "He gave me the strength to live in a world where I could believe anything," she looked at him with a smile. "I feel like a bad mother saying this, but he is the most important person in my life. I love my kids beyond what words can express but I love Kuon more than what emotions are capable of expressing."

"That is not selfish," the fairy told her, "However, we made a mistake. We wanted to restore Kuon to his own body but the navigator couldn't find it, it seems human energy was clouding it. We are hoping to give this new body treatment to get him to - it may be impossible to restore him to his old."

"That's okay," Kyoko said quickly, "He can live out the rest of his life as Takeshi though, right?"

"Yes," the woman smiled, "You can have the long life that the two of you are owed. We will be providing updates to Takeshi's body and whilst we do so, we need to put the body on pause which is why he is in what your world calls a coma, because we changed his hair color."

Kyoko looked down and smiled at her husband, "I don't care what he looks like as long as he's okay. He's _my_ Kuon and I may be selfish, but I can't handle people taking my things from me."

"Well, I wish you luck with Takeshi and your three children," the fairy said before turning to leave and Kyoko paused nervously.

"Two, we have two children," she said but before the fairy could clarify what was going on, she had vanished. Kyoko placed a hand on her stomach, "Two. We have two children," she repeated.

 **[End Chapter 12]**

 **AN2:** So, is there a particular story line you're waiting for in Skip Beat? Am I the only one ( -coughs-coursenot) agonizing over how that revelation will go? (god darn the chapters in Guam had me longing for it).

Anyway, thank you so much to those people who support me and this fic. Special shout out to Chapter Eleven's reviewers: **ktoll9** and **Paulagato**


	13. Chapter 13 - In Body

**AN:** I'm really getting into this fic. Maybe a little too much because I have some ideas for my other fics too that I'd like to work on. However, I do hope that you enjoy this chapter 😊

 **Chapter Thirteen – In Body**

Three pregnancy tests had to be right and in addition to a fairy telling her so, this wasn't able to be argued against. Kyoko Hizuri, grieving widow and single mother, was pregnant again. However, this time, she wasn't sure how to feel. When she had heard that she might be carrying another baby, her thoughts had gone to Kuon. They had definitely had enough sex for it to be his. On the other hand, they were always very careful. Who wasn't careful was the guy who had raped her, who had been the cause for Kuon's death. She knew the procedure and she knew that it was definitely possible.

So, the two options were that the baby was the child of the person who raped her and killed her husband or it was the last gift that her beloved husband, in that form, had left her with. How could she give birth to the baby of the man who led her husband to his death? How could she get rid of the baby of the man she adored more than anyone else?

She needed to talk to him and it was a good thing that the doctors had released him and he was able to come back with her.

She just needed to get to her feet, step out of the bathroom, and tell him face-to-face.

Aside from the fact that it was now past midnight.

Kyoko wrapped her arms around herself as she heard his voice as he ran towards her wanting to help her. She felt how stupid she had been not to help him but rather just to accept that he was going to save her. She could hear the two gunshots and see his body fall onto the ground with the blood pooling out.

She placed a hand on the wall trying hard to breathe and not hurt anymore. She should be happy. The fairies had brought him back to her, he was here and he was okay. Maybe he was in a different body but he was alive. "He's okay," she whispered to herself but her mind kept seeing the broken body and how she realized how mortal he had always been.

Kyoko spread her fingers out across the door and then took some deep breaths before opening it. She saw a form asleep in the bed. She tried smiling but the tears filled her eyes. She was haunted by those first days when she would have a panic attack if she attempted to approach the bed, believing he would never be there again.

As she got closer to the bed, Kyoko's eyes widened and her heart beat quickened. This wasn't Takeshi's body in the bed, this was Kuon's.

…..

…..

" _So," Lory said as he looked over at his two favorite stars. "Congratulations first of all. I can't believe that the two of you, who started off so hopeless at love, are getting married. I would like to say that I'm a matchmaker but according to Kyoko's story, it would be years until I met her. You, however," Lory said as he faced Kuon. "If you weren't brought up to be the person you are today then you and Kyoko might not be together. I also am the one who brought you to Japan."_

" _That's the thing," Kuon said as he squeezed Kyoko's hand, "I'd like to start going by Kuon Hizuri."_

 _Lory paused, "I thought you hated Kuon."_

" _Parts of me still do…well the old Kuon, but I think that with Kyoko's help, I'll be able to transform Kuon into someone else. I'll be able to be a Kuon Hizuri who makes her and my parents proud." Kuon looked down with deep breaths, "How long do you think it would take to organize it?"_

" _We could do it as early as next week," Lory said and Kuon felt himself tense. Kyoko shook her head._

" _I think that's too soon," she said as she watched her fiancé._

…..

…..

In complete disbelief and amazement, Kyoko slowly approached the bed where she could see the man she had married. She took slow breaths and tried not to wake him. Her eyes were wide but a smile was appearing. She had known that he was Takeshi, she had known that that was just a new shell for her husband. To actually see her husband though meant everything to Kyoko.

"My sweet Corn," she smiled as she ran her fingers through his blond hair. She closed her eyes and kissed his forehead. Why did he look like this? What was going on? Had the fairies returned him to his original body…they had said that he would live his life as Takeshi, had they been wrong?

As she sat there, her fingers smoothing down his hair, she felt him wake up and look up at her.

Kyoko smiled as she saw that face that she loved, the eyes, the lips, this was Kuon. This was the man who if you dyed his hair and gave him contacts was Ren Tsuruga, an older Ren but still Ren. "He-hey," Kyoko said, unable to catch the hitch in her voice.

"What is it?" Kuon asked concerned as Kyoko froze, that was _his_ voice. Kuon let his hand move up to her cheek, "Princess, what is it? What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream again?"

Kyoko smiled as she shook her head, "I love you," she whispered as she could finally gaze upon the face of the man that she had married. "I…" she froze as she saw Kuon sit up in the bed and her eyes widened as she saw a spot on his now tighter shirt. Her eyes remained on the dark red spot on his grey shirt and Kuon looked at her.

"My clothes feel a bit tighter, strange," he said before starting to realize that the voice that he was using sounded more like his Kuon voice than his Takeshi one.

"What is that?" Kyoko asked as she gestured to the spot, as she looked Kuon over she could see the bruises, scars, and lacerations on his body. She shivered and her eyes filled with tears as he looked at her in concern.

Kuon started to take off the shirt and then looked down at his chest, his eyes widening as he saw Kyoko start shaking and clutching to herself in need of support. Right on his chest was a bloody hole where it was starting to scab over. No blood was dripping from the wound, but as Kyoko looked at it she could hear the sound of the gun again. She could see his body fall onto the ground.

"I'msorryKuonI'msorry" she said as she wrapped her arms around him and sobbed, being careful of the wound. She didn't know why the fairies had given him this body back or whether she was dreaming or hallucinating, but she couldn't look at that wound without all of her hurting. She smiled when she felt Kuon pinch her, he obviously knew what she was thinking.

"Does it hurt?" she asked and he shook his head. "Are you sure? Please don't pretend. If it hurts, I'd like to know."

"I've never told you how it felt when I died, did I?" Kuon asked her as his eyes widened, seeing his reflection but this wasn't about him right now. This was about making sure Kyoko was okay. "There's this moment, it seems really brief where you just feel this indescribable pain. Everything is pain for about three seconds and then you feel numb and you don't feel anything at all. At least, that's the way that I experienced it. It's as if you're there and not there and after that initial pain, nothing hurts anymore."

"Why didn't you stay there then?" Kyoko asked trying to brush away her tears, "If nothing hurts then -"

"How could I give up any chance of being with you?" Kuon asked as Kyoko smiled hearing that. "I love you and I love Kaguya and Rikuu too."

"Can you just…hold me?" Kyoko asked, "Unless it hurts, I just want to be with you," she said and Kuon smiled. He kissed her gently on the lips and then lay down, his arms wrapped around her.

…..

…..

" _We could also legally change your name to Ren," Lory said as they sat together making plans on what was to happen. Kuon seemed to be thinking about it and Kyoko watched him, her eyes widening._

" _No. I am against that plan," she said firmly. "I love Kuon and I want to marry Kuon."_

" _Ah, I see that Kuu –" Lory said but Kyoko shook her head._

" _This has nothing to do with the last name Hizuri," Kyoko said, "nothing to do with the Hizuri family name. I want to marry Kuon because I want to marry the real deal. Ren Tsuruga is nice and kind, he's professional and incredibly smart but he's not as good as Kuon," with this Kuon looked up at her with shock and Lory grinned. "Kuon has his bad sides, sometimes he's stubborn and violent, sometimes he's too emotional and too irrational, but so am I. I want to marry Kuon because of how much we connect and because of how well suited we are for one another. I know that I don't deserve to marry someone as amazing as Kuon given my history and background but -"_

" _You deserve the world," Kuon smiled. He looked back at Lory with a smile, "She deserves everything that she could want and she wants Kuon. I just want her to be happy, my princess Kyoko."_

…

…

Kyoko woke up to find that there were arms around her, but these weren't the arms that were wrapped around her earlier. She rolled over to find Takeshi smiling at her, his body was healthy and strong and Kyoko could place a hand on his chest. "Morning," she said as she attempted to hide her disappointment. Had that all been a dream?

"I know, it's not the body you wanted," Takeshi said as Kyoko's eyes widened and she shook her head. "It's okay, I'm not sure what happened last night but it felt really amazing to hold you like I used to."

"Kuon, what happened last night," Kyoko said trying to awkwardly explain. She didn't want him to feel that she didn't accept him in this new body. If this was the body that he had then she would love him. The previous night had had a spark to it, but it had proven to her even more that this guy beside her was her Kuon.

"I know," Takeshi smiled as he reached out to touch her, "It was like seeing the proper me," he nodded. "Kyoko, I know you love me and I promise you that were you in my situation, it wouldn't matter what you looked like, I'd love you. I know you feel the same way about me."

Kyoko grinned out of relief, "Yes," she said as she kissed him again. "if you could choose though, would you go back to being Kuon Hizuri?"

Takeshi smiled, "I would but Kuon is supposed to be dead. I can't really explain how a dead man has come back to life and I need to go into the office to plan out how to argue that Kuon was murdered in cold blood. I can't really be me when I talk about a murder."

Kyoko nodded, "Is it fun…the law? Are you enjoying it?"

Takeshi thought about it for a few moments, "I don't know whether it's this body or not, but outside of the corruption I see with some of my associates, I'm enjoying parts of it even more than being an actor," he laughed softly, "Can you imagine being married to the old me as a lawyer?"

"Of course, I can," Kyoko smiled widely, "I'm sure you'd be an excellent one. Kuon – Takeshi, I would even be married to you if you were a gigolo." She noticed how pale Takeshi got from that comment. "Or you know just an exotic dancer…"

"Uh-huh," Takeshi nodded. "I don't want to offer this body to anyone other than you, though. So, I'll see you tonight and we'll make dinner together and spend some time with the kids?"

Kyoko nodded, she placed a hand on her belly. She didn't want to tell him just yet but she knew she would need his advice and his support. Should she just have an abortion just in case or would that be guaranteed murder to a Hizuri by blood.

[ **End of Chapter Thirteen]**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who supports this story. Special shoutout to the reviewers of Chapter 12: **Crazy4Animation, Guest, and ktoll9**

 **Controversial Thoughts on Abortion:** So, I know that I'm looking at the very controversial topic of abortion. I am actually a very liberal person so I do believe in pro-choice, however I believe that unless it is a rape or that the life the infant will be born into (or born with) is going to do more harm than good to the person growing up, you should always consult other options like adoption especially when looking at gay and trans couples and individuals. If you can find a good home for the child and you are able to go through the pregnancy, that is better


	14. Chapter 14 - Where Strength Lies

**AN1:** Thank you for choosing to read this fic. I hope you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Fourteen – Where Strength Lies**

Julie smiled as she looked at her daughter with her grandchildren. She really hoped that Kuon – Takeshi would be able to enjoy these moments with his family. She didn't want the death to get in the way of him being able to fully experience what it was to be a father. She turned to her husband who was looking over his work when they got back to America – well aside from faking it that their son had passed away.

"They are very lively aren't they?" Julie laughed softly and Kyoko nodded.

"Kuon…Takeshi knows the best ways to get them to calm down and rest, he's so gentle with him but he's protective. I know that he is still going to be a great father," she looked down with a smile. "I know that Kuon's greatest joy in life wasn't found in acting anymore when I told him that he was going to be a father. I'm just very lucky that I am still able to have his love."

"I think we all are," Julie said to her before seeing Rikuu walk to her. She reached out and took the little boy into her arms, "Grandma is so happy that you two are here," she said with a grin. "You're starting to look just like your daddy used to look when he was your age. He was a lively thing too."

"I can imagine," Kyoko smiled, "I'm not saying that Kuon – Takeshi isn't perfectly happy if he sits by himself and thinks, but he likes to be active and takes risks. I was really scared for him when he first came out as Kuon, there was nothing holding him back from these risks. He wanted to sky dive and _that_ terrified me. As much as I want him to fly, there's a limit on how much I want him to risk his life."

Kuu smiled before looking down. He saw Kyoko's eyes show the pain.

He had risked his life for her, he had gotten into a dangerous situation for her benefit, that was how he had been shot. She remembered the previous night and how she had sat with Kuon in their bedroom and how she had been able to touch his chest and see the wound from where he was shot. He had been killed because he had wanted to keep her safe.

Hopefully they would be able to keep him this time because she never _ever_ wanted him to be taken away again. Once was enough, she couldn't lose him forever.

…..

…..

 _Kyoko held Ren's hand as they exited a restaurant only to hear the click of the paparazzi's camera. They hadn't really had the chance to talk about their wedding plans and Kyoko would remove her ring when she went on interviews or when she came to the set. She actually had a little box that she liked to put it in and have it sit right next to Corn._

 _They hadn't approached the subject and there was still a lot to figure out, however it did feel that a photograph was just taken of his hand holding hers with a picture of the ring on her finger. They hadn't figured out what was going to happen in time and therefore had run out of time. Hopefully the reaction wasn't going to be too big or dramatic. There were more than a few people who would have an interesting reaction over this._

…..

…..

Even though he had paperwork piling up, Takeshi had decided to try to double the work later and go and gather some "evidence" first. However, unknown to his company was the fact that he wasn't gathering evidence but more so presenting it. LME was the only place in which he was able to do this. He stood at the front desk, having heard from Kyoko that Lory knew what had happened. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Takarada-san," he said with a deep bow. He stood up and passed forward his business card.

"My name is Chiba Takeshi, I'm here for work business," he said as he looked from side to side.

One of the girls smiled, "You're the lawyer working on the Kuon Hizuri murder, that was soooo sad. Kuon was always such a good guy. We don't have the most glamorous jobs but he would make time to say hi to us despite him being so busy."

"Sssh," the girl who was dialing Sebastian said as she elbowed her coworker.

"I take it that Hizuri-san was a good person around here. His death must be exhausting for you, I …" Takeshi paused as he saw Yashiro do a double take and then pace back and forth. He looked down and touched his throat as he listened to what was going on whilst keeping a peripheral view on Yashiro.

"Yes, Yashiro-san is down here," the girl on the phone said before waving the manager over. "I'll have him take him up," she said before smiling to Yashiro. "Yashiro-san," she bowed, "the president requests for you to personally show Chiba-san to his office," she said as Takeshi paled and nodded, looking back at Yashiro. They never _had_ finished that conversation, had they?

"Good Morning," Yashiro said as he took him in again. "Are you here to work on the case for _that person_."

"What individual are you referring to?" Takeshi asked as he looked down at his bag. "I'm only gathering evidence. It's never a good idea to work on a case without evidence and witness testimony. Hasn't the actors you've represented performed on any law –"

"I know, I feel that we may have actually been present at the same time whilst you – I mean he performed," Yashiro challenged him and Takeshi smiled.

"I see, interesting," he nodded, "Of course, I, Takeshi Chiba, don't remember being there but we most likely were."

"Of course, Takeshi Chiba wasn't there," Yashiro nodded, "but are you saying that you were there?" Yashiro leaned towards him and then whispered, "you do know that I am aware of -"

"The fact that Kuon Hizuri is dead is a sorrow that most are telling me the world wasn't ready for," he said before nodding. "By the way, Kyoko is doing fine. We're attempting not to cause a scene with our unique bond."

"I'm sure you remind her very much of Kuon," Yashiro said. "You remind me of him as well. It's a real shame that you're not in acting, you'd be perfect."

"I actually like the law," Takeshi smiled looking very much like Kuon in his expression. "If you want to come to the office later this week and talk then I'd appreciate it, and if you did it as a friend then very much so."

"Alright then," Yashiro nodded as they came up to Lory's office without Takeshi even paying attention to him. The two came to the president's office and Takeshi's eyes widened as he saw Lory dressed as a sheriff in front of him with his eyes taking in every detail.

Takeshi bowed deeply with his hands at his side and Lory laughed. He placed a hand on Takeshi's shoulder and said to him, "I had really hoped you'd be taller."

…

…

 _Kyoko was walking into a TV station the next day for an interview. She had already seen the news and received a mix of messages. Her favorite was most likely the couple who had given her a place to stay and a roof over her head. She was pretty sure it was Okami-san who had sent the message since it seemed more in Taisho's nature to pick the phone up and place a call if he used it at all. Kuon would have to come and pass the fish test before he was one-hundred percent on board._

 _They had told her that it was a happy time and should be celebrated and that they were happy that they found someone who could treat her and love her properly. They also had reminded her that they were family and that they were there for her. She shouldn't fear coming to them._

 _It was this person that she was approaching now that she wasn't fond of._

" _So you really are just a boring woman who is content with becoming someone's life. I bet you're thinking, why did I waste all those years trying to be somebody that I'm not when I was just going to marry a man anyway."_

" _You're jealous because you're not Kuon and no, you are definitely not Kuon," Kyoko said. She paused and looked to him, taking a deep breath in. "Listen, this is pathetic. My fiancé proposed to me because he loves me. He's not searching for anything other than me being there and him being able to make me happy. Why don't you just stop being such a disappointment to everybody, if you cared about me even a little, you'd let me be happy."_

" _He's not capable of making you happy," Shou argued as Kyoko laughed._

" _He is capable of anything. He's my future husband."_

…

…

Lory had invited Takeshi into the office and had asked whether Yashiro should join them or not, which Takeshi had agreed to. Once he was seated however, Takeshi looked at the ground and started to pull out paper files as if he really was getting to work.

"You don't need to prove your acting skills," Lory said as he looked at the stiffness of Takeshi's body. "I hope you feel that you are around friends. It was your father who actually was able to help me locate you."

Yashiro looked at the man as he pulled out a pencil. What was going on here? This couldn't be the wrong person, he had already met Kuon in this new Takeshi identity. Kyoko and the Hizuri family had been close with him and they had confirmed that they were the same. Why was he attempting to act as if that hadn't happened.

"I would like to keep this confidential," Kuon sighed. "You don't understand how it feels like to die and come back to life," he sighed as Yashiro smiled in relief and Lory took a deep breath in.

"I would say that that's a fair accurate. I don't think you've done any dying today, have you?" he asked Yashiro who shrugged.

"I don't think so, at least not today. I am however, very thankful that my friend was able to do that recently," he said. "I bet you're still as good an actor as you always have been."

"That is most likely true," Takeshi nodded, "However, I like working on legal cases. I find that my brain is able to tie together the truth and the facts and create theories and ideas from those. It's a very interesting feeling."

"You're working most in entertainment law, correct?" Lory asked as he smiled seeing the man in front of him. From all of the nonverbal communication, this man's aura was screaming "Kuon" at him. He looked back at Yashiro who was smiling whilst just listening to him speak.

"I am, I currently have a case against a director but I'm on the plaintiff's side and within her contract there do seem to be a number of breaches of contract requiring us to negotiate the terms for monetary retribution," Takeshi said as Yashiro rolled his eyes.

"How about working for LME? We could take you in house here, give you an office, make you head of _our_ legal division." Lory said as Takeshi paused.

"I don't know. I would never want to see you as a rival, but in fairness to the cases I am doing then I'd like to continue with those. Can I have some time to think about my options?" he requested.

"Think away, but remember that you'll always be Kuon to us if only on the inside."

Takeshi smiled, "I hope that Kuon can always remain a part of me no matter how many changes are made."

 **End Chapter Fourteen**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who reads and supports this fic. A special thank you to: **Ashenvale** and **paulagato** who reviewed the previous chapter.


	15. Chapter 15 - Two Hearts, One Family

**AN:** Thank you for choosing to read this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Fifteen – Two Hearts, One Family**

So, Lory had offered him a job in the legal division of LME? That place had always felt like home to him, or rather it had felt like an escape that had slowly lead to a feeling of being at home. Kuon had been at home there, but was he, Takeshi, Kuon any longer? He sighed as he looked over the documents on the desk in front of him. Kuon had had a life and a future. He had had plans that he had wanted to achieve and now that he was dead, he couldn't achieve any of them.

Kuon had had a family. He had a wife who he had met as a young child and then found himself in love with again when they had careers where they could complement each other out on the field. If he hadn't have been an actor then they wouldn't have fallen in love with one another and had their twin children. Kuon also had parents that, although they had sent him away at fifteen, truly cared about him. From the looks of it, any of Takeshi's family members couldn't be reached and he only had second hand knowledge of them.

Maybe he should make a decision whether to be Kuon or not. He didn't want to stay here if he wasn't supposed to be Takeshi Chiba, but he had an interest for the law. Then again, he wanted to have his old life back, his family, his career and reputation, a lot of the things that had been stolen him in that one instance of a gunshot.

Overall, Takeshi felt exhausted. He closed his eyes as he feared a headache and heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said knowing there wasn't any evidence to give him away. As Kagura entered, Takeshi had to do his best to mark how displeased he was that she was here. After how she had messed with Kyoko, he didn't really want to interact with her.

"Are you feeling alright, Takeshi-san?" Kagura said gently as she walked up to him and brazenly sat atop the corner of his desk. "You're looking a little pale."

"Would you mind sitting in the chair if you'd like to discuss something?" he gestured and straightened his paperwork. "I am in fine health as far as I know."

"And your hair, it was such a cute brown color before. This blond doesn't suit you," Kagura said as Takeshi closed his eyes. He remembered how he had been nervous about it and Kyoko had told him how he looked gorgeous with it and it brought out memories of Kuon. Now this woman, who honestly he didn't care for, was telling him how it weakened his attractiveness.

"Why is it any of your concern what color my hair is?" he asked before looking away. "Is this about work because the last time you tried to intervene with my personal affairs you nearly lost me….this case," he said trying not to bring 'Kuon' out into the foreground. He didn't want to talk about how this woman had almost cost him Kyoko.

"I was worried about you. I don't think you should be working on the Kuon Hizuri case. Maybe I should take over for you," she said and Kuon raised an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to undermine my authority and position. I am one of the partners here," he said as Kagura looked away. "Is there anything else? Is there anyone waiting to see me?"

Kagura rolled her eyes, "And if there is?" she asked as Takeshi reached out to call the front desk.

He dialed an extension on the phone and waited for the receptionist to pick up. "Is Hizuri Kyoko downstairs?" he asked before looking at Kagura in disgust. "Can you send her up. Always send any of the Hizuri family members up, it's an important case and unless I'm with a client I'd like to be able to speak to them when they are available. Thank you."

Takeshi frowned, "Are you attempting to get fired?" he asked with a growl.

…..

…..

" _I had really thought that you would have moved on from your stupid delusions of being a bride. I'm glad that you're not going to be my bride if this is the way that you're acting. You used to have dreams, Kyoko. You used to be able to challenge yourself. What are you going to do? Wear lacy items and make him a seven course meal each day?" Shou asked as Kyoko looked at him with lack of interest._

" _If I want to do that, then that's none of your business," she attempted to argue. "I want to be a good wife but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up on being an actress."_

" _See, you can't even get that much right," Shou said judgmentally, "A wife's job is in the home taking care of her husband and children. I thought with your upbringing you would hate a life like that."_

" _Not with Ren," Kyoko smiled happily._

" _So you think that he's the exception, that he's going to stay home with a child and take care of them whilst you go out to work. You think that he's not going to want his dinner at a certain time or that you take care of all the diapers and waking up in the middle of the -"_

" _Why would I not want to take care of my wife and child?" Kuon asked as he came over to Kyoko and kissed her on the top of her head. "Hello there, princess," he told her. He turned to Shou with a calm smile on his face, "What is it that I won't want to do?"_

…..

…..

As he saw Kyoko enter, Takeshi gestured to Kagura in the subtlest way possible. He saw Kyoko wink very quickly at him before approaching the office. Kagura, however stood up with her arms stretched wide in front of him causing Takeshi to stand.

"You can't have him you murderess," Kagura said as Kyoko paled and saw the shocked expression on Takeshi's face. "You just eat men. Even though you just ate your last meal cold and raw with lots of blood, you set your sights on Chiba-san."

"I…" Kyoko said as she looked away and then brought tears to her eyes, "Please don't talk about my marriage and my husband like that. I would never cheat on his memory, I'm here because I care about him no matter where he is."

"Uesugi-san," Takeshi growled before seeing the way in which Kagura ignored him and went towards Kyoko.

As soon as Kagura had slapped the actress, Takeshi had jumped over the desk and was standing between them. Nobody had seen such date and loathing in his eyes as both women did that moment.

"Get the hell out of these offices," Takeshi growled dangerously. "Get out before I have security escort you out. Think about your public reputation. You are fired and the way you handle yourself next will lead to whether we call this a resignation or whether I need to write you up so that no respectable law firm will ever want to work with you again."

"Do you love her?" Kagura asked as tears stung her eyes. "She murdered her husband. She's the reason why you have this case. She's the reason Kuon Hizuri is dead."

"My personal affairs are none of your business as for what accusations you are hurling towards Hizuri-san here, I don't care for them. I repeat. Get out of this building before I force you out," he said as Kyoko took a step back. She could sense the anger glowing around him darkly. As much as she wanted to reach out and help him calm down, she couldn't blow his disguise.

"She will never love you, she never loved anyone, but you've made your point and I'll leave," she said as she stormed out, whispering under her breath as she left, "I'll get my revenge on this law firm, Takeshi."

Kyoko waited for a couple of moments before walking over to Takeshi and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She was surprised when he pressed his forehead to her shoulder and held her close without saying anything else. "What is it, Corn? What's wrong?" she asked extremely concerned for him.

…..

…..

" _This guy thinks that you aren't capable of being a good father or a good husband," Kyoko said. "I don't know where he got this ridiculous notion that all men are like him."_

" _Wow. I don't want to live in a world where that is the case," Kuon said bluntly before looking at Shou. "Kyoko and I are a team. We work our hardest to provide for one another but even if we were penniless, we would still have something that you and Kyoko will never have. Unconditional and mutual love."_

 _Shou stared at him, "What's so great about that if it limits your freedoms? I'm feeling pretty glad that I don't have to have a stupid thing like that in my life."_

 _Kuon looked at him and taking Kyoko's hand in his, he turned, "I really pity you then, Fuwa. You'll never get happiness, true lasting happiness, until you take a girl and turn her into a princess. Only love can make a girl feel like that."_

" _Try to get it before it's too late," Kyoko told the singer before turning and walking off with her husband's hand in her own._

…..

…..

After he hadn't answered the questions, Kyoko gently took his hand and led them to a sofa he had in his office. She sat down and looked him over. She needed to channel her own courage and find a way where she could help him and be _his_ support. Hopefully that wasn't too hard a thing to do.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she reached to take his hand.

"I'm doing okay," he nodded and Kyoko looked away in disbelief. "It's hard to try to juggle two lives," he tried to explain as Kyoko nodded again. She looked over at the paperwork on his desk. He was trying to put together facts on the death of Kuon Hizuri and how to show that to the jury panel. She knew that getting the people responsible for his death locked up was important but maybe somebody else could do that better.

"Would you be happier if you left Kuon behind?" she asked him with tears in her eyes. She didn't know what that would mean between the two of them or if they would even be a family anymore. She definitely didn't want that but it was wrong of her to force Kuon to just play the two roles forever. This time it was a lot more painful than when he was Ren Tsuruga.

"No," he told her before staring at the floor guiltily. "I…the greater part of me is Kuon Hizuri but physically I'm not him. I'm just having a hard time letting Kuon go."

"Then don't," Kyoko said as she looked at him and Takeshi paused.

"Kyoko, the fairies - I can't just leave this life," he told her and Kyoko looked down. She could see how tough this was on him, she didn't think that she could ever do the very stressful thing that was being forced on him to accept. Was it that wrong for him to try to live the life of Kuon Hizuri?

"Have you tried making contact with them?" she asked and Kuon looked at her.

"I…you know that…" he said and Kyoko held his hand.

"Maybe it's time that the two of us took a trip down to Kyoto. We could try to find the fairies together, maybe they will be able to help us," she told him. "No matter who you are though, you're my prince and I love you unconditionally."

 **End of Chapter Fifteen**

 **AN2:** Thank you to all the readers and supporters of this fic. Special shoutout to the Chapter Fourteen reviewers: **Ashenvale and paulagato**


	16. Chapter 16 - Your Chest is my Pillow

**AN:** Thank you for choosing to read this chapter. I hope that you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Sixteen – Your Chest is My Pillow**

Kyoko couldn't sleep, she felt as if her insides were going to be vomited up by her body. She felt that her heart was going to beat out of her chest as she remembered the way a man's hands had touched her. She remembered the pain and exhaustion as she lay in the street. She remembered the embarrassment and humiliation and the fear that Kuon was never going to love her again.

Kyoko remembered all of this.

She felt the sweat and the pain and the feeling of not being in control. She felt the weight of knowing that a man could use her as his plaything without permission. She remembered the continual repetition of the thought that Shou was a good and nice guy despite all the pain he had put her through.

As her breath was almost stolen from her, Kyoko moved from side to side and tried hard to control her breaths. It wasn't happening right now. At this moment – at this very moment she was safe and she just had to get over it. She couldn't let this hurt her. She panted hard and woke up with a scream into her pillow and then darkness.

She woke up and reached beside her where she could only feel the bed beside her. She pulled the covers to her face and whimpered. She wanted him. She wanted Kuon or Takeshi, whichever one of them it was possible to have.

She didn't want to be the plaything for another guy but sometimes she had to remind herself that Takeshi's hands were the same as Kuon's despite the fact that they were physically different. She had to remind herself that Takeshi's lips weren't pushing against her maliciously, those were _Kuon's_ lips.

She just wanted him to be there beside her and tell her how much he loved her. She wanted to get rid of this child but Kuon…if this was Kuon's kid then she didn't want to harm him. Despite all of her flaws, Kuon had always made her feel like the most amazing woman in the world. If it wasn't for him then she wouldn't be the person the acting community knew her to be.

"Kuon," she whimpered before seeing the shadow of a tall man in the room and she started shaking as if having a panic attack. Takeshi wasn't that tall.

The man rushed towards her and Kyoko felt the tears starting to wash down her cheeks.

…..

…..

 _The hate was always hard to take and Kyoko felt herself being too weak and emotional as she looked at the forum for her fiance's fan page. She knew that people had started with this vicious gossip when they had made the announcement that they were dating, but now that they were getting married it was worse than ever. The hardest part was that Kyoko was letting it affect her. She just hoped that Kuon didn't see her this way._

 _She was frightened of some of the things that she was saying. She was frightened that she would mess up the marriage and that she wasn't good enough for him. He was Corn. He was amazing and sometimes she didn't know what he saw in her._

 _She should see herself as a good and strong person. She should see herself as successful, but compared to the godly Ren Tsuruga, she felt so inadequate. She closed her eyes and attempted to dab away the tears but she was too late. She could hear the key turn in the lock._

 _She froze as she looked down and heard his footsteps speed up and soon he was crouching down in front of her, that too handsome for words face looking at her with worry and care and so much love that Kyoko had to wonder if it was actually a manifestation of insanity._

" _Kyoko, princess, what is it?" he asked her not caring that he was kneeling in water._

 _It seemed when he was trying to act as her prince, Kuon could ignore anything._

…..

…..

Kyoko felt strong arms wrap around her protectively. They were guarding her from the world but they were also placing her somewhere so safe and warm that it was her definition of what home should be. Kyoko looked up and she noticed the blond hair and the soft and yet well-formed bone structure of what her husband had looked like. "Kuon?" she asked him. She felt something cold and hard against her skin and pulled back.

The gun. They were going to shoot him again. He was going to get hurt again.

"Kyoko, are you alright? Do you need anything princess?" she heard her husband ask her in his familiar voice rather than Takeshi's. Kyoko closed her eyes and pressed her head into his chest only to come upon that cold and hard shock once again.

"Kuon, could you turn on the light?" she requested and Kuon nodded. He kept one arm wrapped around her and with the other he switched on the light that was on one of the bed side tables. He looked at her as his eyes adjusted to the light and caught her staring at him. She was fixed on his chest again. He knew he should have worn a sweater.

Kyoko felt the tears in her eyes again. This was what she felt her husband _should_ look like apart from that one glaring detail which was the bullet in his chest. It was that bullet that reminded her that cold men existed in the world. It was that bullet that made her remember her disloyalty to him. It was that bullet that told her time and time again that the fact that he had died was her fault.

She wasn't worthy of being his wife.

"Kuon," she whispered as tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. "I am…I'm so sorry," she cried and Kuon paused. He shook his head quickly and gathered her up in his arms, placing a pillow over the chest wound. "I didn't….I gave them what belonged to…I let them take," she sobbed leaving Kuon a little confused.

Running his fingers through her hair to calm her down, the blond looked at his younger wife. "Sssh, I'm here. I'm here. What is it, princess?" he asked her with sad eyes showing all of his pain.

Kyoko shook her head and cried into his chest again. She felt worthless and after having a dream like that she didn't know whether she could even tell Kuon about it.

"What is it? Princess, you can tell me anything at all. I'm sorry that I'm not always here like this but I love you unconditionally. No matter how many bad or angry thoughts you think that you're harboring, I love you. Please tell me," he said as he moved her onto his lap so that he could hold her entire body close to his.

"I don't want to have sex with you," Kyoko whispered and Kuon nodded with a weak smile.

"Okay," he said as he looked down. "We don't have to do that."

…

…

" _So this is what they've been saying?" Kuon asked as he looked at the computer whilst sitting next to Kyoko. He rolled his eyes and took Kyoko's hand, bringing it to his lips. "Princess, they don't know me. The guy that they want is someone completely different to who I really am. I mean, do you think that you're like them and only Ren Tsuruga is going to be your prince?" he tried to ask and Kyoko shook her head._

" _Tsuruga-san is a great guy, but he's only one part of you, Kuon," Kyoko said as she let her head rest against his shoulder._

" _And when I asked you to marry me, I didn't ask as Ren Tsuruga. I asked as Kuon Hizuri. Maybe Kuon isn't as great a guy as Ren is, maybe he doesn't have the star quality or the popular demeanor, I don't even know if Kuon is as handsome as Ren."_

 _Kyoko laughed and then looked at her fiancé, he always knew when to cheer her up. "I love Kuon Hizuri more and he's even sexier than Ren ever was. Maybe you have some dents in you as Kuon, but you and I both know that we should learn from our hardships and move on from our mistakes."_

" _And you know about my violent side and you can still be here beside me," Kuon smiled. "Do you know why I trust you though? Why I know that nobody could ever replace you in my heart?"_

" _Why?" Kyoko asked softly._

" _Because you understand what I mean when I talk about Ren and Kuon, because you don't think I'm strange to treat myself as if I'm too different individuals and because I can't imagine a day when I fall out of love with you."_

 _Kyoko looked at him, "You made me believe in love, Kuon. I'm going to make sure that every day you love me just as much as I love you."_

" _Deal," Kuon winked._

…

…

Kyoko could hear the ticking of the clock on top of the dresser. She could feel the silence as if it was a strong gust against her skin. She pulled back from Kuon and he let her do so, watching her and just giving her all the time that she would need. He wasn't pushing her or attacking her, he wasn't voicing his hurt or pleading with her to change her mind. He was just being Kuon and being kind and sweet and accepting. However, Kyoko knew that this was the calm before the storm. She knew that if she left this subject alone then it would bring Kuon or Takeshi or both of them to a place inside of themselves that was locked away from everyone.

"Kuon, there is nobody I love more in this world than you," she told him and saw him nod. She looked at him and took deep breaths. She knew that he would become introverted and hold onto painful events so she had to act fast as well as smart. "That unconditional love you talked about, I have that for you. I just…what if I can't have sex anymore?" she asked him and Kuon looked at her and nodded.

"I know," he nodded before kissing her on the top of her head. "Kyoko, I would _never_ force you into anything that you didn't want to do. Remember when we first became a couple. I will let you choose the speed of our relationship and what you want to do and don't want to do."

Kyoko nodded, "but you were waiting to have sex, right?"

Kuon rolled his eyes and then raised an eyebrow, "Wow, I really give you that kind of impression. Truthfully, the only thing that was going through my head when we started our relationship was thank god she doesn't hate me for being Kuon Hizuri and Corn and Ren Tsuruga," he said as Kyoko rolled her own eyes. "It was nice having someone know me for who I am….who I was."

"I've heard everyone say that all men want is sex," Kyoko said as Kuon looked at her with an 'are you kidding me?' expression on his face. He looked away and laughed weakly.

"That's a bit harsh, or do you mean American men because I'd still say that is untrue," he told her. "Besides, I thought we both agreed that I have fairy magic in my blood."

Kyoko looked down, "Kuon. I don't want to approach the topic until I'm ready but is that alright? I want to go and talk to someone about this, these feelings. I like being connected with you in that way."

"All I need is to look at you and that feels so much better than any morning quickie," he said as Kyoko kissed his neck and smiled at him.

"You're gorgeous," she whispered as Kuon wished that he had this body for so much longer than the nights.

 **End of Chapter Sixteen**

 **AN2:** Thank you to everyone who reads and supports this story. Special shout out to my chapter 15 reviewers: **Ashenvale, Mercedes1312, PaulaGaTo**


	17. Chapter 17 - Restless

**AN1:** Hope you enjoy. I have a plotline figured out so this marks the start of it

 **Chapter Seventeen - Restless**

Takeshi looked down as he studied the markings in the rug that he and Kyoko had picked out together before he had died protecting her. Somehow it felt so different now as if this was something that somebody else had chosen. It was as if he was living in his own shadow. He had done it before, but now it seemed to feel worse and as if he was being forced down by gravity.

He had handed in a short leave of absence to the firm and instructed the other lawyers on the cases he was working on. He didn't feel right anywhere any more. He looked at his hands and moved each finger as if he was looking at the hands of somebody else. He was stuck between two lives and he couldn't figure it out.

He was pulled away from, what he would describe as, his selfish thoughts by the sound of Rikuu's crying. Takeshi stood up and walked over to his children's bedrooms and went over to Rikuu. "Hi," he said as he ran his fingers gently through Rikuu's hair and saw the little boy trying to reach for him. "Oh my baby boy," Takeshi said as he cradled the child close to him. "Daddy's here, you're safe," he whispered to him and already felt Rikuu settle in to him from his nap.

Takeshi looked up at a picture of the four of them from when he used to look like that. Did he even belong to this family anymore? He took a step away and tried to breathe with the young boy in his arms. Once Rikuu had settled down, Takeshi placed him back in the bed and looked over to the doorway where he could see Kyoko standing there.

"Hi," he said weakly and Kyoko could instantly tell his emotions despite the fact that Takeshi was trying not to show them on his face. "I heard…"

"Don't run, please?" Kyoko asked as she approached him. "I know that it must feel really scary to you…being here, but I need you," she whispered as tears shone in her eyes. "Whatever you want me to call you, Kuon…Takeshi, I need you and our children need you."

Takeshi looked away, "I'm sorry," he apologized to her and Kyoko shook her head.

"You're not leaving us, do you understand?" she asked him before wrapping her arms around him tightly and pressing her head into his shoulder. "Are you listening to me? Wherever you go, whoever you are, I'm going with you."

Takeshi gave a shaky nod of his head and looked at the outfit that Kyoko had on, it was a skirt with leggings and a long-sleeved blouse. "Are you going somewhere?" he asked her and Kyoko looked away nervously.

"Yes," she said and Kuon realized inside that as much as he wanted to ask her where she was going, he wasn't sure she was going to tell him. He didn't belong in this world anymore.

…

…

" _Excuse me," the interviewer said as she looked at Ren who she had been talking to about his latest movie. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. We were discussing your new role?"_

" _Yes, it'll be my first as Kuon Hizuri," he told the woman as if talking casually about the weather._

 _The interviewer, one of the best and most considerate in Japan, continued to look at him in shock. "And why would you be using that name?" she asked, "Are you changing your name?"_

" _In a way," Kuon said as the woman nodded silently. "If you're asking if I'm dropping the name Ren Tsuruga and going by my actual name, then that's correct. I've decided that I'm not going to be Ren Tsuruga anymore."_

" _And the family name," the interviewer nearly choked on Ren's…Kuon's calm and collected nature. "Hizuri isn't that common," she said as Kuon nodded._

" _I'm Kuu's son," he said as the woman had to cut to commercial._

…

…

Kyoko sat nervously at the doctor's office. She had been told by Lory that Kuon had had some DNA test results that were still able to be used if she did want to check the paternity of her child. This seemed to be the best thing to do. She wanted to keep whatever parts of Kuon alive that she could and if this child was his final gift to her _as_ Kuon then how could she refuse it.

Kyoko looked down at her stomach and shivered, then again this could be the child of someone who had attacked her and hurt her. This could be the offspring of a rapist and the man who had killed her husband. She really wanted to know because how could she force Takeshi to raise that kind of a baby.

She had already been here a few hours and she had been glad to hear that Takeshi would be staying at the house and could take care of the twins. She didn't want to make him feel guilty if she decided not to have the child or make him feel pain if it wasn't his child but Kyoko was still going to give birth to them.

Everything seemed so confusing and she didn't like it.

Why was her life never simple? Why did it just seem to be getting worse, the only thing that came easy to her was her love for Kuon and their children. Maybe that was all that she needed from her life.

"Well," the doctor said as he returned to the office, "I was a little anxious about doing the paternity test this soon after you discovered the pregnancy but we have the most conclusive tests that we are going to get at this point."

Kyoko held her breath as she attempted to read his expression. He wasn't giving her any clues and that hurt. She needed to know how to move forward with this child.

"The tests?" she asked, "Are they -"

"They're a match to your late husband," the doctor said as Kyoko smiled in relief. Yes, that made sense. Kuon would have the more powerful sperm, he would be the one who would always be able to surpass everyone with his strength and skill aside from when he got distracted. Aside from when that distraction caused him his life.

Tears filled her eyes as she remembered his body lying there so limply. She remembered the blood and how she was so scared that she'd never be able to see him again. She remembered how weak his voice had sounded and how it wouldn't stop. She remembered the pain that was inside of her. So much pain and so much blood.

She closed her eyes as she slid a hand onto her belly. She would take care of this child, their third child together. She would take so much better care of this unborn baby than she had of Kuon. She just wished there had been some way of saving him.

…

…

 _Kyoko looked at the TV completely stunned. What was he doing? Was he really this impulsive? There was supposed to be a press conference set up, there was supposed to be a way of her being there to support him and for him to talk about their marriage and why he was suddenly coming out to the public. There were ways for this to be done, but he had decided to bypass them all for shock factor. She knew Kuon and she knew Ren and they both seemed too professional to just want to shock the nation._

 _Kyoko heard her phone buzz and looked at the number of the president, "Hello, you've got Kyoko," she said quickly as she dropped into a bow, forgetting that she was on the phone._

" _I'm calling you because I can't get through to that stubborn reckless -" Lory began but Kyoko cut him off._

" _Sorry, I don't know what he's doing, he never discussed it with me. I just told him that it was getting so close to not getting the deposit back and I was too worried to sl-" Kyoko blushed. She couldn't believe she was going to say that on the phone to the president of all people._

 _She heard Lory's laughter from the other side and her face turned even redder. "Did you really tell him that?"_

" _About the wedding?" she asked and Lory smiled as Kyoko slammed her palm against the wall. She had been as reckless as he had been and she shouldn't have said anything to him._

" _About not sleeping with him?" Lory laughed and Kyoko froze._

" _Maybe," she said before the president started laughing more. Kyoko froze, she hadn't known that sex was THAT important to him. Then again, he was American._

…..

…..

Kyoko had wanted to wait until she could look into those emerald eyes and run her hand through the blond hair that her husband had when he took his 'true form' at night. She knew in her heart that her love for him didn't change when he was Takeshi, but she wanted to share the news with her husband especially with how distant he had felt from her lately.

She had tried to keep her eyes on the clock to note when the ideal time to tell him was and she had been eager to do so. Then she had fallen asleep.

She woke up to see a light in the bathroom and blinked as she heard groans of someone in pain. "Kuon?" she asked before her eyes widened as she remembered how he had died. "Kuon!?" she yelled before rushing into the bathroom. He was her husband and she could always explain herself to him. He would understand, Kuon always understood.

As she opened the door, Kyoko felt herself about to vomit all over the floor. There was so much blood over his body and she felt her hands shake as he sat there almost possessed, a knife to his chest where he had nearly dislodged the bullet in his chest.

"Kuon, slow down…Kuon stop…please stop," Kyoko begged as she saw the blood that was draining out of his body. How could he not be realizing this? It was almost as if he was blind to the world around him. She should have been watching him more closely. Kyoko ran to him and tried to grab his hands despite the blood that was flowing down his chest and she paled as she realized that if he just dug once more with the knife the -

Kyoko froze as the bullet casing fell into her hands but the blood wasn't there anymore. Instead, it was just Takeshi. No blood. No wound. Just Takeshi Chiba.

"Kuon," she said before seeing the blank look on his face, "Are you okay, oh baby," she said as she tried to pull him closer to her but Takeshi stood up, his mannerisms were completely different.

"I'm sorry," he asked looking as if he were in complete shock, "Do I know you? Where am I?" he asked and Kyoko froze. What was going on here? She protectively put a hand on her stomach. "I'm going to leave," he told her nervously as Kyoko felt her heart catch in her chest again. Where was he going? What did he mean - had he cut off all access to Kuon? Was Kuon really dead?

As Kyoko watched him leave, she felt someone touching her and looked around, there was nobody there. Kyoko fell to her knees and then dropped onto her side in a fetal position. "Kuon," she whispered painfully. She should have known he was hurting so much. Now she had lost him.

"Kyoko, princess?" she heard a voice speaking to her.

It was his voice, his _Kuon_ voice. Kyoko looked around, where was he? "K-Kuon?" she asked trying to blink away the tears that were half blinding her. "Where are you?" she asked as she felt a painful beating in her heart.

There was a soft light and Kyoko looked up to see a fairy there, she sat patiently as the fairy looked at her.

"He is in the air," she said as Kyoko shook her head not understanding. "His body is in the air, he will remain there until a suitable body can be found," the fairy said as Kyoko felt her heart break again.

"I can't see him?" she asked, "Please…"

"There is a way," the fairy smiled as Kyoko suddenly felt herself pulled into his arms. She just wanted to see him so badly.

 **End of Chapter Seventeen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Special Shoutout to reviewers of Chapter Sixteen**

Ashenvale, ktoll9, kyoko minion, PaulaGaTo


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